Frozen Memories
by xYukixTenshix
Summary: What's with the new ninth division captain? Hitsugaya doesn't know, but he'll find out soon enough. Especially when he's stuck with her on a mission. Figures- he always gets the weird ones! HitsuxOC
1. New Captain

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Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

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The large doors that led to the first division meeting room were slowly opened. The captains, split into two rows facing one another, stood quietly watching. The lieutenants stood behind their captains, also watching. Hisagi Shuuhei, lieutenant of the ninth division, and Momo Hinamori, lieutenant of the fifth division, stood behind the captain's row with no captain in front of them. Only a select few had actually met the new captain to the ninth division. The captain was rumored to be straight from the academy, having no experience with being a full fledged shinigami.

It was also rumored that she retained her memories from her living life, but this was not confirmed. No one dared approach her on this subject.

A young girl with brown hair tied back in a pony tail stood before the eleven captains. Her dark brown eyes were serious and set on the first division captain, awaiting his order. She seemed focused and well suited at first glance, but the captains of Thirteen Court Guard Squads knew better than to judge a book by it's cover.

"Come forth," Yamamoto, the first division captain and head commander of the Court Guard Squads, said. His voice echoed in the quiet room as the young, new captain stepped forward. She stood in the middle of the room and bowed.

"As you all know," the head commander started, "we have had two empty positions for captains left wide open. Amagai Shuusuke has replaced the spot for the third division captain, but we still need a captain for the fifth and ninth division."

"A teacher at the Shinigami Academy approached me about a young girl who had exceptional abilities that might be suitable for a captain's position. Yesterday, I, Yamamoto Genryuusai, along with three other captains examined the qualities of the potential captain, and found her skills and attitude to be acceptable."

"From now on, Hachi Inayuki, you shall be the newly appointed captain of the ninth division," he concluded at last. Everyone's eyes went to the young, new captain. Hachi Inayuki…

"I'm honored to accept. Thank you," Hachi said. Some of the captain's were having second thoughts about this new girl, but they could do nothing, as now she was a captain. Yamamoto nodded his head and called out,

"Dismissed!"

Hachi Inayuki quickly took a good look at the lieutenants, searching for hers. Many of the captains glanced at her before exiting the room. She didn't see her lieutenant anywhere.

"Excuse me, Captain," came a male voice from behind Hachi. The young brunette spun around to see a man talking to her. Like everyone else, he looked down on her because of her size. She was a few inches taller than Yachiru Kusajishi, lieutenant of the eleventh division, yet about two inches shorter than Hitsugaya Toshiro, captain of the tenth division.

Hachi saw the badge on his arm, which read 'ninth division.'

_So this is my lieutenant,_ she pondered. He had three scars running down his face and a '69' tattooed on his left cheek. His hair was black and spiked, and he had a serious look plastered on his face.

"I'm Hisagi Shuuhei, your lieutenant," he announced. Hachi noted his name in her head and nodded her head towards him.

"Right," she said, "You mind showing me to the division?"

"Not at all."

The two left the room, Hisagi leading. There was pretty much silence as they walked along the maze like Seireitei. Hachi noted the way for future use, paying close attention to any signs that would be benchmarks to show the way.

"Captain Inayuki…" Hisagi started. Hachi focused her attention on the lieutenant.

"What?" she asked. Her voice was not cold or mean, but it had a firmness that said 'I'm in charge.'

"Please forgive me captain…but I won't be able to trust you like I did Tousen…The ninth division was betrayed, and a new captain might not be all that trusted among the division. Please excuse me and the division, but you'll have to earn our trust," Hisagi stated. He hung his head, almost in shame. He wasn't exactly the type to be 'rude' to a captain.

Hachi walked up beside the lieutenant.

"Isn't that how it's supposed to be? Just because someone has the title of a superior, I don't think anyone should have to give their trust to them right away. Trust should be earned in any situation, no exceptions. So I'm fine with that," the young captain declared. Hisagi stared down at his new captain. He hadn't been expecting that answer from her.

"That's the division house, right?" she suddenly asked him. Hisagi looked up to see the ninth division house. He nodded a 'yes' and Hachi inhaled deeply.

"Right. Time to meet the division," the brown eyed girl uttered.


	2. Invitation?

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Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

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"Look!" one of the members from the ninth division called out. The heads of the shinigami turned to look at the door as it began to open. The suspense that hung in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath as they waited for their new captain.

As the doors finally opened, they revealed a young girl with brown hair and eyes. Her fierce gaze scanned the room while her new subordinates just stared in shock. They hadn't been expecting a girl for their new captain, let alone the fact that she was so young in caparison to everyone else. No one talked or moved as they examined her. None the less, she wore the proper captain's robe of the ninth division. She was now their captain, whether they wanted it or not. And most of them didn't want it.

Suddenly, Hachi let out a very girlish giggle. Everyone was startled at the sudden noise she had made. Again, it was silent, but this time in surprise. No one made a comment as she took a step forward.

"Why do you all look so surprised?" she said, a smirk on her face. She looked around the room, meeting everyone's gaze at once. She could tell it would be hard to earn their acceptance.

"Yeah, I'm young and I know it. But I'm your captain now, so don't look so dumbfounded next time you see me, okay?" she declared in a firm voice. A few of the division members nodded, but again it stayed quiet. She cleared her throat as she began to say more, this time with a much more serious note in her voice. All of the play she had a moment ago had completely vanished.

"I'm Hachi Inayuki, your new captain," the young girl announced loud enough for everyone in the room to hear her.

"I know I have to earn your trust, I've already gone over it with Hisagi-san. I can also tell that you would preferably have an older, male captain to lead you. Right?" Hachi asked to them all. She noticed many of the division members hung their heads in silent agreement. At least they were honest…

"I'll try and be a good captain," Hachi concluded. And with that she turned to leave the main division house. Everyone in the room stared after her in astonishment. She closed the doors behind her and walked over to the wall beside the door, where they wouldn't see her shadow. Leaning on the white wall, she awaited quietly for the conversation she knew would come.

"She's too young!!" Hachi heard one of the male members of her new division exclaim. A murmur of agreement passed throughout the division members.

"She looked like Captain Hitsugaya's age!" another said.

"I'll bet you anything she'll be just as bossy and mean as he is!" said a new voice.

"I won't follow a kid!"

"Yeah, me neither!"

"I don't trust her!"

As the 'rebellion' carried on, Hachi listened in silent amusement. A challenge certainly wasn't what she had expected, but she was glad to accept. If they wouldn't trust her, she'd earn it somehow. If they didn't want to follow her, she'd find a way to make them by their own will. Hachi sighed, getting up from her post on the wall.

_Alright, time to plan…_she thought. Walking through the streets of the Seireitei, Hachi tried to come up with ways to somehow earn their trust and be a good captain. She had no intentions of betrayal, as their last captain had. She thought maybe doing some group training would start a 'bond' between them, and she would go from there. Maybe….

As Hachi kept her pace, she closed her eyes to imagine how she could do something to help erase any boundaries between her and the ninth division. Many thoughts ran through her head, but she was suddenly disturbed as she felt a fluctuation in the air and realized she had come within close range of someone. Hachi's eyes snapped open in time to see a lady with a large bust, icy blue eyes, and wavy, strawberry blonde hair coming towards her. She had just rounded the corner at the far end of a nearby building, and the lady carried an envelope in her hand. Hachi noticed a lieutenant's badge hanging from her sash, not in the fashion that most lieutenants wore it. The badge read 'ten,' so Hachi assumed this lady was the lieutenant for the tenth division.

"Oh! Captain Inayuki!" the lady exclaimed in delight. She smiled widely at the young, new captain and came to a sudden halt in front of Hachi. The lieutenant bowed, then stood erect again with a large grin on her face.

"I'm Rangiku Matsumoto, lieutenant of the tenth division!" she introduced herself. Like with Hisagi, Hachi noted her name and division and nodded slightly.

"It's a pleasure, Matsumoto-san," Hachi said formally. The lieutenant giggled a bit, looking at Hachi like she was a bit strange. Hachi raised an eyebrow in curiosity, confused at what was so funny.

"You can call me Rangiku!" the lieutenant exclaimed, "Well, the eighth division is throwing a party tonight to welcome the new captain, you! Captain Shunsui asked me to deliver this invitation to you while he prepares the food and drinks."

Rangiku had a pleading look in her eyes as she handed the envelope to Hachi, who took it cautiously. Hachi stared down at the white envelope in her hands. '**HACHI INAYUKI**' was written in red on the invitation. She slowly shook her head as she looked back up at the lieutenant.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not really one for parties…" Hachi explained calmly to Rangiku.

"But you have to come, or all our effort will be for nothing! This party is for you and we want you to feel welcome! Everyone will be there! Please, please, please! You need to come!!" the lieutenant begged.

_I hate guilt trips…_Hachi thought disappointedly. She couldn't turn down it down now, for that would be an insult to their 'hard work' that Rangiku had claimed. Hachi gave in with a sigh, and nodded.

"Alright, I guess I have to…" Hachi mumbled more to herself than to Rangiku. Hachi felt Rangiku's aura go sky high with excitement, and the lieutenant giggled loudly.

"Thanks so much for agreeing!" Rangiku exclaimed, "We'll all see you tonight!"

With that being said, the lieutenant skipped off happily, leaving a disappointed captain standing in bewilderment. Hachi placed her hands at her hips and looked up at the sky.

_This should be fun._

**!!PLEASE READ!!**

**A/N: Okay Hitsugaya will show up soon. But I won't be able to update this story for two weeks. I'm going to Oregon July 7th, and I won't be back until July 21st. I'm really sorry for any inconveniences, but please bear with me. Thank you.**


	3. Lost

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Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

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It was still only around noon when Hachi had received the letter inviting her to a "welcoming" party by the tenth division lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto. The young girl kept pace, walking around the streets of Seireitei. She wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around her or where she was heading to, she just _went_.

At the moment, her mind was focused on the party that she didn't want to attend, but was virtually forced to agree to go to. She sighed in disappointment at her own weakness- why couldn't she ever just say "no?" Though it was too late now, so she really had no choice. She pulled the envelope enclosing the invitation out f her sleeved, where she had placed it. Glancing quickly at her name once more, she opened the envelope and pulled out the paper. The ink was in red, as her name had been written. On it, she read:

_Inayuki-san,_

_I would be honored if you attended the welcoming 'ceremony' being held for you tonight by the eighth division. Everyone is counting on you to come! It will begin at seven PM tonight. I hope you'll find it in your heart to attend._

_Love,_

_Shunsui Kyoraku_

Hachi smiled at his attempted flattery. So was it a ceremony or a party? She closed her eyes and laughed quietly to herself, knowing the this Captain Shunsui was someone she would get along with. Hopefully.

She opened her eyes and took her bearings, but didn't find herself in a recognizable place. She turned to see to where she had come from, but anyway she looked it all looked the same in her eyes. She hated being in uncharted territories, especially with no one around to show the way. Hachi groaned inwardly, now ashamed of her horrible sense of direction. Wasn't there some sort of map to these confusing, winding streets? She had to admit to herself that she was lost. Completely and utterly lost.

She turned around and followed a straight path back from the direction she had stopped at. After following this route for what seemed like forever (but was actually only a few minutes) she came across a dead end. She sighed and retraced her steps, just to get even more lost in the process.

"Great! Where the hell am I?!" Hachi asked to no one. She hopped on to the roof of a nearby building, scanning the buildings. Unfortunately, even though they were different sizes, the buildings were all white and indistinguishable from this distance. So she gave up on that and jumped down, deciding to look for someone who would hopefully know and show her the way. (Or at least point it out.)

She began walking around in different directions, searching for a fluctuation in the air that would notify her if she was within close range of someone. Hachi began to get flustered, sensing that no one was about and walking. Just as her hope began to trickle away, she sensed a fluctuation to her north, and headed for it.

Within minutes, she had eventually come upon her "target," who just happened to be a short, snowy haired captain. He turned to look behind him as he heard footsteps hurrying his way. Hachi had noticed him at the initiation ceremony and recognized him as Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro, leader of the tenth division. He wasn't the first person she would have chosen to confront on such a subject, but she wanted to get back to her division.

"Is there something you need?" Hitsugaya asked in a non-caring voice to Hachi, once she had caught up to him. Hachi scratched the back of her head, wondering how to ask for his help without making herself look really stupid. She sighed and decided to just ask him straight out.

"Captain, will you tell me which way the ninth division house is from here? I kind of got myself lost…" she explained. Hitsugaya looked at her like she was some sort of idiot, which Hachi had expected. He let out a sigh and looked to his left.

"It's south," he said, "That way."

He pointed towards what Hachi assumed was south, and nodded her head slightly.

"Okay, thank you Captain Hitsugaya," the young girl replied. He said nothing but stared at her coldly. Immediately, Hachi was aware of his annoyance towards her, and she was sure that Hitsugaya Toshiro was definitely not someone she would make "friends" with. Ever.

Using flash-step, Hachi headed south in the direction Hitsugaya had pointed out. She left the awkward scene with relief, not wanting to meet with him again anytime soon.

_What a cold guy…_she thought. **Definitely** not someone to make friends with.

Hitsugaya watched her disappear from sight, his eyes narrowed. He turned around, his robes flowing behind him as he continued walking.

"Tch," he mumbled to himself.

_Another annoying and stupid captain to deal with, _he told himself.

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HEY! Thanks for your reviews! I wanted to get one more chapter in before my two week break on vacation! Thanks for your ideas and support. I know this one was short, but when I get back, I'll update a lot more! BYE BYE!


	4. Challenge

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Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

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Hachi walked down the hall of the ninth division quarters, searching for her room. It was quiet, but not totally silent because of her footsteps, which still made little noise. There were also murmured conversations as she passed groups of shinigami in the same hall. She caught bits of them, things like, "Look, it's her," or, "She's not suited for a captain!"

As much as these words annoyed her, she didn't pay them any mind and headed for the end of her hall, where her room lay. Her earlier encounter with Captain Hitsugaya kept replaying in her head. She wasn't sure why his eyes were so cold, why he glared at her with such a serious face. She guessed it was just his nature, but if that was all it was, she wondered what lay on the other side of his ice barrier.

Hachi let out a sigh of annoyance as she reached her room. She quickly slipped in as to avoid any more conversation about her from the other shinigami. Again, the young captain thought of some possibilities to gain her division's trust. She had a few ideas, such as joint training. This idea had come from Amagai Shuusuke, but she wanted to come up with her own idea.

The room was like all the other rooms in the division building. A tatami style bed against the wall, a desk, a clock on a shelf in the corner, and the traditional earthy colors. Hachi had entered the room earlier, just to examine it, and had placed a picture on the desk. It had a frame around it, and it was the only thing that she thought she wouldn't be able to live without.

A closet door was in the corner next to the desk. It was smaller than the door that led into the room, but the closet wasn't even close to big. In fact, even though it had a bar to hold clothes from hangers, it could probably only hold about ten full outfits.

Not that shinigami need a big array of clothes to choose from. Actually, the only things that Hachi had in her closet were three shihakusho, an ice blue colored kimono, and a simple outfit of a t-shirt and jeans for missions to the material world. She had an extra hanger to hang her haori up at night, and that was truly all she needed.

Hachi decided against wearing the kimono to the party. Her shihakusho and captain's robe was fine. She hoped.

Once that had been decided, she glided out of her room and headed for the meeting area of the ninth division. She was sure no one would be there and thought it would be a good place to start for exploring the ninth division grounds.

Just as she left the division house, she hesitated before taking any street that might get her lost. Remembering what had happened earlier, she looked at her options and decided not to make herself get lost and look stupid again.

"Great, what now?" Hachi mumbled to herself in defeat. It was then that she felt someone coming towards her and heard her name being called.

"Inayuki-san! Inayuki-san!" It was a male voice. She turned around to see a big guy with black blue hair and pale skin running towards her. About ten others followed him. The man calling her name didn't have a captain's robe on or a lieutenant's badge on his arm, so he was most likely a seated officer. Hachi remembered seeing him when she entered the division building. So he was obviously a seated officer of _her_ division.

"I would appreciate it if you called me by my **title**," Hachi said as they caught up to her, putting emphasis on 'title.' The ones behind the big guy exchanged nervous glances with each other.

"That's just it," the big guy said in a husky, deep voice. Hachi looked up at him in false curiosity, already guessing what he wanted. He was definitely big, and he was also burly. His arms were muscular, and there was no doubt that he looked strong.

"Inayuki-san-" he began, but Hachi cut him off.

"_Captain_ Inayuki," she corrected. The big guy let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. He didn't want to address her by the proper title, and it didn't look like he was planning to anytime soon. That was not something Hachi would just let pass so easily, even though she knew she had to gain their trust, she had right to have them call her by her title.

"My name is Kano Mohokira. I want to tell you something…" he said hesitantly. Hachi raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, what do you want to tell me?" Hachi asked after he didn't go on. Kano took a deep breath and let it out slowly before talking again.

"I don't want to acknowledge you as my captain unless I know you truly are capable of handling one of us. You just don't seem suited for the position of a captain, especially if you haven't had any experience with being a true shinigami. So…I'm challenging you Inayuki-san! I want to battle you, and if you do win, I will acknowledge you as my true captain!" he announced at last. Murmurs of agreement and encouragement passed between the people behind him.

To Kano's surprise, Hachi smiled widely. Waves of excitement rolled off of the young girl, and suddenly Kano was having second thoughts.

"What seat are you, Mohokira-san?" she asked, still smiling.

"I'm the fourth seated officer…why?" he responded warily. Hachi's strange smile never faded. This seemed like it would be fun, if not just a method to kill some time.

"Okay, Mohokira-san! If you can cut me, no matter how shallow or deep the cut is, I'll promote you to third seat! But!" Hachi paused dramatically to look at the people in front of her. She noticed they looked wary of her but she felt their confidence in themselves.

"But…if you lose the fight, you will acknowledge me by my title and give me a tour of the division grounds tomorrow!" she said cheerfully. Kano looked confused, like he had just won a lottery but had never entered in the first place. He wondered if she was serious.

_This'll be easy!_ he thought confidently. He smirked and nodded his head in agreement. Hachi's smile disappeared, and she nodded too. She also seemed focused and very confident of herself, Kano noticed.

"Right then, to the meeting area!" Hachi instructed. She looked at Kano expectantly, and he realized that he was to lead the way.

"Okay," he said as he used shunpo (flash step) to lead the way. His followers stayed behind him, and Hachi raced along just behind them all.

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(Continued)

Hisagi sat on the top edge of a wall looking up at the blue, cloudless sky. The day was perfect, if not for the fact that he had just gotten a new captain. He wasn't sure if he could ever trust her, but he promised himself that he would try.

He let out a sigh of frustration, and let his mind wander. He remembered the reason he joined the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. When he was younger, the old captain of the ninth division had saved him from a hollow…his name had been Kensei Muguruma. Hisagi remembered how Kensei had a '69' tattooed on his stomach, which had been the inspiration for his own tattoo on his cheek. (A/N: True story)

A sudden rush of air around him brought him back to reality, and he looked down in time to see his captain use flash step to run after a group of shinigami. He immediately became suspicious of the group and he also used flash step to be at his captain's side.

"What's going on Captain?" he asked in a rush. Hachi felt his suspicion and let him know it was okay.

"Nothing bad, really! Join us, you might like to watch!" Hachi suggested enthusiastically. Hisagi was confused, but didn't ask any more questions and continued to run with Hachi.

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Hello everyone! I'm back. Thank you for being so patient! I hope you enjoy.


	5. Teasing

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki, Michio Okatashi and Kano Mohokira. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

I'm not sure if I'll be good at a fighting scene, so I'm apologizing now in case it sucks. SORRY!

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The meeting area of the ninth division was like a small coliseum. A very small coliseum that could probably only hold two hundred people at the most in the stands. The blue-gray seats in the stands were set in rows with a big arena of dirt in the center. It looked like it was going to shambles since it was never used. Ever. Perfect for a quick battle before the "welcoming" ceremony. Well, Hachi still had about an hour before the party tonight.

"This is where you wanted to fight, correct Inayuki-san?" Kano announced as he came to a stop in the center of the arena. His followers, Hisagi, and the young girl captain surrounded him to put the attention on him. Hachi held back a retort to correct him with her title, and nodded her head slightly. She noticed how her lieutenant stiffened at the word "fight." He had come along by invitation from his captain, Hachi Inayuki. Of course, he didn't know why they were coming to the meeting area until now.

"Wait, Mohokira! You're going to battle Captain Inayuki?!" he exclaimed as his eyes widened slightly in concern for the safety of his subordinate. Even without trust, Hisagi knew that the captains of the Thirteen Court Squads wouldn't have named her a captain unless they were sure she was strong enough and had enough brains to handle a division.

"It's okay Hisagi-san," Hachi said as she stepped forward to put an arm in front of the lieutenant. She knew this would happen, and she also knew he worried that she would kill Kano.

"I won't kill him. I promise…" she said with a sly smile directed at Kano.

Kano took a step back, unease creeping upon him as he stared into the young captain's eyes. Excitement was all he could see in her brown orbs, yet he expected fright. In the back of his head and in his gut, he had a horrible feeling that he should quit. But his pride kept him standing and drove him forward to battle the young girl.

"Captain Inayuki…" Hisagi said warily. He couldn't help but feel the need to stop this.

"It's alright, I swore I wouldn't kill him, so I won't. So why don't you all go sit in the stands and watch?" she suggested. They all complied to her words- all but Kano- Hisagi being much more hesitant than any of the others. From the stands, Hisagi saw that his captain's pose was a bit sluggish. He realized she wasn't even too serious about the battle, and she had no worries at all that she would win. It was much more dangerous for Kano than he had anticipated.

"Awesome! Are you ready, Mohokira-san?" Hachi asked enthusiastically. Kano nodded and pulled out his sword from it's sheath. He expectantly waited for Hachi to draw hers out, but it never happened. Hachi looked confused when he didn't come forth to attack.

"What are you waiting for, Mohokira-san?" she probed.

"I'm waiting for you to draw your sword!" Kano expressed. To his great surprise, Hachi let out a hearty laugh. She shook with laughter, yet he couldn't figure out what was so funny. When she had calmed down, she looked at Kano and explained.

"You don't expect a captain to draw out their sword against a fourth seated officer, do you?" Hachi said in an obvious matter, "To make it fair, I'm limiting myself to hand-to-hand combat and flash step. Even with that, it's not even close to fair. You are not limited, though, I want you to attack me at full force!"

Hachi saw that Kano looked dumbfounded, as if she had just done an impossible trick. He wouldn't comply to her request, or demand more like it, so he began to sheath his sword. Before he could, Hachi blurted out something that she knew would "motivate" him to fight.

"That is, unless you're frightened that I will beat you in front of everyone. After all, I am just a **little girl**," she sneered. This sparked a fuse, and he outstretched his arms in front of him with his zanpaku-to facing Hachi in a menacing way.

"That's more like it," Hachi murmured under her breath.

Kano came at her with full speed, zanpaku-to in front of him and ready to land a blow on the young girl. He had every intention of cutting her as much as he could; he wanted that third seat position. When he was within a few feet of her he swung his sword and brought it down sideways to ensure a blow to her arms and torso. But he cut air, yet he was sure she had been there one second ago. He turned around to see his opponent staring at him with false confusion.

"Why are you swinging at the air? That doesn't look very professional…" Hachi said sarcastically. Kano grunted in embarrassment, now determined to put a cut on his new captain. He charged at her faster this time, but again swung into thin air.

"Over here!" Hachi teased. Kano turned to his right and grimaced. His captain stood looking very relaxed with a smirk on her face. She put a finger to her chin and looked up in thought.

"You know, I don't think you'll catch me if you try the same thing over and over again…" Hachi announced. Even with that being said, Kano once again came at her with full force and ended up cutting nothing. He searched for his target and did the same thing with the same conclusion. After many more times of doing this, Kano began to get upset, for he was making himself look like an idiot in front of the lieutenant and his supporters.

"Gah!! Stop running away!" he yelled in total frustration. Hachi looked at him and smiled innocently. She pointed to herself and made herself look confused.

"Me? Run away?" she asked. Kano let out a very loud sigh and charged at Hachi again. This time though, the young captain ducked beneath his zanpaku-to and looked up at him as if to say 'See? I'm not running!'

Kano saw his chance and swung his sword down, but she rolled out of the way and stood up again. He swung at her since she was in close range, but this time she jumped up and came down lightly on the edge of his sword. Kano blinked in surprise, but before he could even open his eyes again she jumped off the zanpaku-to and sighed in annoyance.

"Seriously, I thought this might be fun. All I'm doing is making you like an idiot!" Hachi said apologetically. She rubbed the back of her head and sighed. It looked like her guard was down, so Kano took advantage of the situation and brought his sword down with full force. It was probably the strongest hit he had ever emitted, and he was sure he would land a blow on his captain.

The next thing he knew, his zanpaku-to's blade was being held back by the palm of his captain. Her brown eyes burned into him, and he looked down at his blade. Hachi's pointer finger and thumb came down around the edge of the blade and traced up to tip of it, where she took it between her fingers tightly and began to bend it ever so slightly.

"Im-Impossible…!" Kano stuttered. Hachi smirked at the shinigami with interest. She quickly looked up at the sky to see where the sun was, and saw that it was just above by horizon. It was about six forty-five P.M. already. Her eyebrows pulled together in a flustered expression.

_How time flies…time to finish this then…_she told herself in disappointment. She looked down at the sword between her fingers to it curling. She let her grip lighten to stop from breaking it, but didn't release it.

"Th-That's impossible!" Kano kept stammering.

"Not really," Hachi commented. She lifted her right foot and brought it around in a roundhouse kick. The kick was directed at his gut, and her foot met its target. The force of the blow knocked him back so hard it sent Kano flying into the wall on the far side of the arena. A large cloud of dirt lingered after the man had been knocked down onto the floor. Hachi used flash step to go to Kano, and found him in the dust that remained from the cloud that had already begun to thin out.

Kano was on his hands and knees, trying to get up, but every time he moved, his throat would tighten and he began to spit up a handful of blood.

"Damn….it…" he managed to say when he spotted Hachi looking down on him. She crouched down to look him in the eyes, while Kano flinched and braced himself for another strike. But it never came, so he warily opened his eyes to look at his captain. She had a sympathetic look on her face, and her eyes were sincere. Kano was confused as to why she would look so apologetic.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I don't think it was a good idea to hit you so hard. You'll be fine though, and your zanpaku-to will heal itself while you're unconscious," Hachi explained. She gently put her hand around his neck and pressed the sensitive skin that knocked him out cold. Hachi grabbed his arms and lifted him onto her back.

"Hey, Hisagi!" she called out. Within a few seconds, her lieutenant was at her side. He eyed the unconscious man on Hachi's back warily.

"Take him to the fourth division please. He'll heal overnight; I didn't kick him too hard, so he'll be okay," Hachi explained as she handed Kano over to Hisagi with ease.

"Yes, Captain," Hisagi complied. He ran off in the direction of the fourth division barracks. Hachi looked up at the by-standers in the stands, who winced under her gaze. She used flash step to be by them, and they in return looked surprised at her sudden appearance.

"Mind pointing out the way to the eighth division barracks?" Hachi requested. They all pointed in one direction and Hachi nodded in understanding.

"Captain…" one of the shinigami stammered. Hachi looked at the guy who had addressed her.

"That was amazing!"

"Incredible!"

"How could we have ever doubted you!"

Hachi stepped back in embarrassment at their sudden praise. She didn't know that the battle would have this kind of influence on her subordinates.

"Uh….thanks!" she replied in an awkward tone. The shinigami looked at her approvingly and nodded. She felt weird just standing there and decided she would leave for the "ceremony" now.

"Well, I'll see you all around. Bye!" Hachi announced her departure with a wave and used flash step in the direction they had all pointed to. To the party!!

* * *

(Continued)

"Tch…" the snowy haired captain muttered. He raced towards the eighth division party he had been forced to go to by his lieutenant.

He had watched most of the battle between Hachi Inayuki and her subordinate. He figured the guy had challenged the new captain in hopes of winning. The fight had been mostly just a teasing by the new ninth division captain. Not much of a battle at all. And he remembered how Inayuki had taken out the guy with a simple kick that looked like it contained no power at all in the eyes of a fellow captain.

_She has potential…just a little…_Hitsugaya admitted to himself.


	6. Interrupted

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Oh, and I wanted to thank hisanachan, Irreversible Interlude, i love athrun, blackm00n5, GothicCinnamon, and Domo Arigato san for your reviews. They've helped me lots!! THANKS**

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A large area sectioned off for what looked like parties was glowing in the growing darkness. Bright lanterns hung from cords above the courtyard and illuminated everything below them in colorful patterns. People roamed happily in the party area while holding drinks and conversing. Others stood off to the side looking at nothing in particular, clearly uncomfortable with their surroundings. Food and drinks were set on long tables off to the side against the walls.

Hachi arrived at the darker end of the courtyard, in a "street" hidden in the shadows. She gazed around nervously, trying to look for a familiar face- but it's not like she knew that many faces to begin with. She hadn't thought to ask Hisagi if he would even be there. Though, as she looked around, she noticed many of the people wearing kimonos, many men wearing hakama over their simpler, plain kimonos. Hachi immediately felt underdressed.

As a sudden pink blush passed over her cheeks, she heard a cold voice from behind her speak to her.

"What are you hiding from?"

Hachi whipped around, her shihakusho and haori flowing behind her as she did so. Her gaze met Captain Hitsugaya's, his eyes cold and stern, while Hachi was on the defensive. The young girl let out a sigh of relief to find it was _only_ the tenth division captain. She had expected something, or actually someone else, ever since…well, she just felt a need to be aware of her surroundings. She didn't enjoy being snuck up on. In fact, Hachi **hated** when people came up behind her unnoticed by her.

"Why are you blushing…?" Hitsugaya asked suspiciously. Hachi straightened up and crossed her arms over her chest, sticking her nose in the air.

"It's just that!…" she explained quickly, looking back at the party very warily, "I feel _under_dressed…" Hachi mumbled the last part. Hitsugaya caught her words and guffawed. Her head turned to look at him, leaning against the wall with a disapproving look on his face. His snowy white hair spiked up in all different directions, and his blue-emerald eyes looked at Hachi with his peripheral vision. Hachi couldn't help but admit to herself that he was worth looking at. Too bad she couldn't say the same for his attitude. Ha!

"You never answered my first question," Hitsugaya commented. Hachi was confused for a split second, but remembered what he had asked.

"Oh. I don't really like parties. At all," Hachi replied, glancing back at the bright lights of the courtyard, "My…" she hesitated, wanting to say '_My family and friends called me a "wall-flower_" but instead quickly changed her mind and said, "I used to be called a 'wall-flower' at parties."

Hitsugaya noted her hesitance after saying '_My_,' but he didn't say anything about it. Of course, he had also heard the rumors of the girl who retained her memories of her human life. He had some idea of what she was going to say, but then again he could be wrong… Though he, like all others, didn't push on the subject.

"Don't you know it's rude to not attend a party meant _for_ you?" Hitsugaya asked emotionlessly. Hachi raised an eyebrow as she pondered what he said.

"You don't seem like much of a party guy yourself, Captain Hitsugaya. Would _you_ attend a party being thrown for you?" Hachi inquired. The snowy haired captain glared at Hachi, his eyebrows pulling together in frustration. Hachi smiled inwardly, amused that she had upset him.

Her eyes widened by the slightest, realizing that she didn't want to be rude. Although it seemed like Hitsugaya had an ice barrier around him, Hachi wanted to get to know him just a little bit better. She had a feeling she wasn't on his list of favorite people, not that she wanted to be on that list. She just wanted to be on better terms with him. She assured herself that she wanted to be on good terms with _everyone._

"Sorry, that was kind of rude…" Hachi apologized after a second of thought. He didn't show a difference in his posture or expression, so Hachi assumed that she wasn't forgiven and her apology had been a bit useless…

But Hitsugaya was taken aback by her sudden apology. She had spoken up before he could make a rude remark, and he was a _TINY_ bit grateful for that. Of course, Hitsugaya would not show his surprise, so he stood still in the same position. He noticed that this made Hachi feel a bit disappointed, so he smoothly pushed himself off of the wall and waved his hand in the air once, "brushing it off."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he muttered, not looking at Hachi anymore. Though he felt a sudden rise in her aura. Relief. He sighed, leaving her alone in the shadows as he called out to his lieutenant and walked into the courtyard.

"Hey, Matsumoto!" the young prodigy called into the crowd. He didn't even have to wait long before his busty lieutenant was at his side, looking curious. He pointed behind him with his thumb, saying,

"She's there."

Matsumoto looked passed her captain to meet Hachi's gaze, wary and reluctant to enter the courtyard. The lieutenant's lips spread into a wide smile and she waved happily at the shorter, girl captain.

_That new captain is so strange... _Hitsugaya thought to himself before walking away, but not without a quick glance at Hachi out of curiosity.

"Thanks, Captain Hitsu-" Matsumoto started, but she cut herself off as she realized her captain was already gone. She shrugged carelessly, and skipped over to Hachi happily.

"We've been waiting!" Matsumoto commented enthusiastically. Hachi nodded once and walked into the courtyard with Matsumoto alongside her. Matsumoto went around with the young new captain.

The two girls walked around, while Matsumoto introduced Hachi to all the captains and lieutenants. Hachi tried to make a good impression on them all, which was particularly difficult with the sixth and second division captains. But she did feel comfortable around Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake, Lieutenant Nanao Ise, Captain Amagai, Captain Unohana, and Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi. Hachi wondered where the lieutenant for the sixth division was, for she hadn't recalled meeting him, but she brushed away the thought as they continued. Matsumoto found Kira and Hisagi drinking sake by the tables. They appeared to be drunk.

"Do you want a drink, Captain?" Hisagi asked in a slurred tone, pushing a small bowl of sake under Hachi's nose. The young girl crinkled her nose in disgust at the smell, and pushed it away. She shook her head quickly.

"I'll pass…" Hachi said. Matsumoto and the others looked at Hachi strangely, but shrugged. Hachi silently slipped away, unnoticed by the three lieutenants. Matsumoto had started drinking sake with Kira and Hisagi. Hachi sighed in relief, only to be taken in by Kyoraku and Ukitake, which wasn't much better. They were drinking too, but at least they didn't appear to be drunk.

"So, how's it going, new captain?" Kyoraku asked, smiling as he put his arm around Hachi's shoulders. The young girl looked warily at the eighth division captain's hand on her shoulder, wishing he would take it away from her. She said nothing at all, though, as she answered his question.

"It's all well. Thank you for this party, but you shouldn't have, really," Hachi said, not wanting to be rude. Kyoraku smiled and pulled his arm off of Hachi, much too her relief and satisfaction. But he reached for a small bowl of sake, and offered it to the young girl. She shook her head again, rejecting his offer.

"I…don't drink, thank you though," she explained. Kyoraku raised an eyebrow in question, but continued to try to persuade her.

"Oh, come on! One drink won't hurt anyone!" he laughed at his own joke. Hachi wondered what was so funny. (Kyoraku was remembering that Captain Amagai can't hold down his liquor, and can get drunk from the mere smell of sake. He came to the same conclusion with Hachi. Ha!)

"Well…I'd really rather not…"Hachi said desperately. Kyoraku didn't put the bowl down, wanting Hachi to have a drink. Her eyes looked up at Ukitake pleadingly, but he just smiled and shrugged. Hachi sighed and looked at the bowl of sake. She dreaded the smell, let alone the horrid taste. A lump grew in her throat, but she saw no reason to be afraid. Just very, very reluctant.

Just as she began to reach for the disgusting sake, a black butterfly came into sight. Three of them. Hachi held out her finger for the hell butterfly to land on it, as did Kyoraku and Ukitake. The hell butterfly dispatched it's message to Hachi, while on her right, Kyoraku mumbled what he heard.

_Emergency captain's meeting, all captains to attend immediately. I repeat, emergency captain's meeting., all captains to attend immediately._

Hachi, Ukitake, and Kyoraku all exchanged glances of faint alarm. Emergency captain's meeting? That was definitely not a good message to hear. Apparently, all the other captains had also heard the message, and were already on their way to the first division now. At the same moment, the three captains in the small group gathered themselves and used flash step to get to the meeting room. Of course, the older more experienced captains were easily able to pass Hachi, though she tried to keep pace with them, which she managed to do. It was hard for someone who wasn't a master at flash step; but then again she was pretty good for a newbie. Ukitake was on her left; Kyoraku ran to her right.

"Do you think it's about…?" Ukitake suddenly asked out of the blue. Hachi looked at him with confusion, wondering what the heck he was talking about.

"It probably is," a younger, more serious voice said. Hachi looked to her right, passed Kyoraku to see the tenth division captain racing along with them. Hachi was surprised; when had he come? Again, it made Hachi uncomfortable that Hitsugaya was able to sneak up on her, even though the other captains had probably already knew of his presence. She decided she would work on being more aware of her surroundings later.

Yet, Hitsugaya's answer to Ukitake's question did not answer her question. What were they talking about?!

_I'll find out soon enough…_Hachi thought with a defeated sigh. She still felt very surprised that something should come up so soon. On her **first** day. Something about that bugged her in the back of her head, but she pushed it away as the four captains entered the first division meeting room.


	7. A Mission

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Thanks for your patience, guys. I went to Santa Cruz for a couple of days. I'm back! Still clueless as ever though. Ha. Enjoy. (It's kind of short. Well, all my chapters are short…sorry about that)**

* * *

The captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads stood in two lines facing each other. Again. They had gathered like this in the morning for the Captain's Ceremony. All the captain's faces were unreadable, including Hachi Inayuki's face. But her insides were flipping with anxiety from all the tension in the room. She could feel the unease coming from all angles, despite the calm postures and appearances.

At first, Hachi had assume it might be a test for her, the newly assigned captain. Maybe a false alarm to assess her abilities for preparation; seeing her reaction to emergencies. She had kept her suspicions quiet, knowing that she should assume the worst. Surely a test of her was not the worst? Ha, of course not. She was right to keep her suspicions in her head, for as soon as she walked through the doors to the meeting room, she sensed the anxiety in all the other captains as she, Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Hitsugaya had taken their positions in the line. Hachi stood between Kenpachi Zaraki and Komamura Sajin, both about two feet taller than herself.

At last, the first division captain, Yamamoto Genryusai, came through the door into the meeting room. A gasp escaped through the lips of two or three of the captains, but no one looked to see who had let out their shock.

It was not the Captain Commander, despite his old age and brilliant skills, that had shocked the captains in the separate lines, but the person who followed him. He was an average sized man, a few inches short of six feet. His flaming red hair hung down, concealing his face. His uniform was like all the other shinigami's uniforms, except that it was torn and covered in blood. A lot of blood.

The arms of the man were covered in deep cuts, still oozing the red liquid through his skin. Blood dripped onto the floor as he struggled to take a step forward, reaching to the wall for support. His breath came in rough, shallow gasps. Slowly, the red-haired man looked up, his flaming hair framing his face, which was just as scarred as the rest of his body. Hachi noticed black lines above his eyes that looked like tattoos. His eyes were narrowed, looking like he was deeply disappointed. The strange, tattered man took another step forward, wincing in agony.

"Renji, what happened to you?" came a heartless voice from the other side of the line that Hachi was in. She quickly noted that this man's name was Renji, and she assumed that he might be the sixth division lieutenant, seeing as he had not been at the welcoming party earlier. With a quick glance to see who had spoken, she saw Byakuya, captain of the sixth division, looking down at Renji with an emotionless glare.

"I'm sorry…Captain…Kuchiki…." Renji said in ragged breaths. The lieutenant would not meet his captain's eyes. Before he could say anything else, he collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. Hachi held her posture, but her stomach twisted at the sight of the lieutenant on the floor. If it wasn't for the quick rise and fall of his chest, she would have thought him dead. Not like she hadn't seen that before. A shudder ran down her spine at the memory.

"Captain Unohana, please take care of the sixth division lieutenant," came the voice of the Captain Commander. All heads snapped in his direction, again focused on the meeting. Though the memory of the red-haired man lying on the floor remained in Hachi's head. Unohana nodded once and walked over to Renji, gently placed him on her back, and exited the room.

"Before I called the meeting, Abarai-san came to the first division headquarters to confront me," Yamamoto began explaining, "And he told me this:

"The group he had gathered to come with him on his mission had been slaughtered, all but him, for he had been knocked unconscious by his opponent. Abarai-san said that his attacker had admitted to his crimes. So he did find who we sent him to look for…" he trailed off. Yamamoto had noticed Hachi's confused expression, and remembered that she had no idea what in the world he was talking about. Yamamoto cleared his throat and began to explain once again.

"Captain Inayuki, listen closely, for all the other captains have already been informed on the situation," he paused quickly, awaiting Hachi's answer. A quick nod and the Captain Commander continued.

"A few months ago, a group of shinigami were in the material world on a mission to destroy hollows that had been appearing in random placed all over Japan. They were in Nishimura, Japan at the moment."

Hachi's interest peaked at the sound of her hometown- Nishimura.

"The group encountered a man who seemed to be a soul reaper, but when they confronted him they were slaughtered easily. This information came from a member of the Secret Guard Force who had been keeping an eye on the town. This member informed us of the man's appearance: tall and dark skinned, with black eyes and black hair. Ever since that encounter, we have sent small groups of shinigami to search for him. The man seems to go to a few other small villages before going back to Nishimura, so we sent groups to the immediate area he was in. All have been killed, so we decided to send a lieutenant. As you have seen, his group failed as well. It's apparent that we must send captains," Yamamoto directed the last sentence to all the captains in the room. No one spoke.

Hachi tried to imagine a man like the one the Captain Commander had described, but only one image came to mind. A chill ran through her body, refusing to think about such things.

Yamamoto began to speak again, while everyone listened, "So as I just said, I'm going to send two captains to search for this man. It is volunteer, but if no one comes up to volunteer, I will choose. No one is being forced to do this, so step forward if you would join the mission."

At first, no one moved. Tension gathered in the room even more than before, awaiting for someone to come up. Hachi decided this would be a good chance to prove herself to her division. Well, she hoped so anyway.

The new, young captain took one pace forward, strangely, at the same moment that another captain did. She didn't look to see who it was, but she focused her attention on the Captain Commander.

Hitsugaya eyed Inayuki suspiciously for a couple of seconds before turning his attention to the Captain Commander. He, like Inayuki, awaited further orders from Yamamoto. The two captains that would be going to search for the murderer would be Hitsugaya Toshiro and Hachi Inayuki.

"That is decided then. Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Inayuki will question Lieutenant Abarai tomorrow when he is well enough to speak. Make preparations, then leave the next day as soon as possible. Is that clear, Captains?" Yamamoto declared. Both Hachi and Hitsugaya nodded and stated a clear and firm,

"Yes!"

"Dismissed!"

The captains in the room quickly left the division meeting room. When Hachi and Hitsugaya got outside, they exchanged a quick glace. Hachi's gaze was interested; Hitsugaya's glare was cold. They both looked away swiftly, Hachi in disappointment and Hitsugaya in irritation.

_It's going to be so hard to break down the wall of ice around him…_Hachi decided. Subconsciously, she was relieved at a chance to try to make friends with him while they were on the mission.

_Of all the captains to be on a mission with, I get the strange, inexperienced one…_Hitsugaya thought. He did feel an urge to know more about her abilities though, and measure her true strength. Hopefully he would be able to witness her in action, if she could even handle this shinigami murderer.

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Hey, I hope you liked this chapter...the next one will be exciting! I hope. Ha. Um, I want to ask for more reviews, just opinions on what you think I could improve on or what you think so far of the story. I hope I'm not being pushy...? This might be the only time I ask though. Well, if you could, I would _really_ appreciate it. Thanks so much.


	8. Interrogation

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

* * *

That was probably one of the worst nights in Hachi's life. Sleep hadn't overcome her until about two in the morning, and that did nothing to ease her worries. For once the dark cover of sleep had eluded her, she dreamt. Perfect scenes of her last day, the sounds so real she swore she was awake.

A body on the blood soaked bed, motionless; it would never move again. A little girl curled up in a corner of a closet, attempting to keep her sobs silent. Appending doom for her, as it had already come for her mother. The crazed look in her father's eyes as he opened the closet door, covered in blood that was not his own. A crack of thunder, and blackness.

Hachi woke with a gasp and sat up in bed, immediately on her guard. A drop of salty water touched the side of her lips. Her hand reached up to feel her tear covered face. She had been _crying_?! Shaken with fear, Hachi's eyes swept the room around her, searching for something out of the ordinary. Nothing was out of place, and everything was still as stone. Despite this fact, Hachi got up and switched on the light, illuminating the small room. Blinking a few times to get used to the light, Hachi checked the room once more. She glanced at the clock, saying it was five A.M. Sighing, she turned off the light again and slid into her bed. She covered herself protectively, giving her a sense of comfort. The young girl closed her eyes, only to open them again as soon as she realized that she was no longer tired. She knew she was afraid to go back to sleep in case the same nightmare overcame her, so she laid there motionlessly, just thinking as the sun began to rise. She allowed her thoughts to wander to her living life.

Hachi remembered her friends she had in Nishimura, the small village located on the small island east of the mainland of Japan. There had only been a few hundred people in Nishimura at the time. Everyone knew everyone else, and new comers were always welcomed. No secrets were kept in this small village, and news spread at break neck speed. Hachi had been happy there.

It was her birthplace, and now her body's resting place as well.

The alarm sounded at eight o' clock, startling Hachi awake. Without realizing she had done so, she had fallen into deep sleep. She let out a sigh of relief that she had avoided her nightmare. Blinking, she pushed the bad dream to back of her head. The young girl stretched her stiff limbs and let out a huge yawn. She stood up and slid her haori on. A fluctuation in the air caught her attention, and she walked to the door.

Opening it, she saw Hitsugaya standing against the opposite wall awaiting her. He looked…well, he didn't really have any emotion in his eyes as he stared at Hachi for a short moment. Hachi realized her hair was probably a big mess, and let it go around her shoulders, taking the hair-tie out.

"Let's go see Lieutenant Renji, shall we?" she suggested as she pulled back her hair into a neat ponytail. Hitsugaya nodded quickly and headed down the hall with a swift pace. Hachi closed her door and increased her speed to catch up to him. Hitsugaya glanced at Hachi for a split second, looking at her face. He noticed her eyes were droopy, which meant she was probably tired. He didn't say anything though as they continued towards the fourth division barracks where Renji was.

After a few minutes of walking in total silence, the two captains reached the fourth division. Hitsugaya went up to the nurse and asked for Renji Abarai. With a hesitant look on her face, the nurse led them to a room, which they entered. The nurse left them alone and closed the door behind her.

Hachi looked at the bed where a red haired man lay with his eyes closed. His wounds had been treated, and he was covered in bandages. Renji looked well enough to answer the captains' questions. His breathing was a tiny bit faster than a regular person's breath would be when sleeping, Hachi noticed.

"He's asleep…We'll come back later," Hitsugaya said in a monotone voice. Hachi again noticed that the corner of Renji's lip moved a fraction of a centimeter up before resting in its original position.

"No, he's faking he's asleep," Hachi argued. Hitsugaya looked at her suspiciously before glancing at Renji again. Hachi walked over to the red haired lieutenant and stared down at him for a moment. She lifted her hand and it hovered above his face before coming down and pinching his cheek. Hard.

"Wake up!" Hachi ordered. Renji's eyes snapped open and he swatted Hachi's hand off of his cheek.

"What the hell are you-" the lieutenant cut himself short as he noticed the young girl's haori. He realized she was a captain, and his brows furrowed in confusion. Renji hadn't known of this captain. Who was she?

"I'm Hachi Inayuki, the new ninth division captain. Pleased to meet you, Renji-san," Hachi greeted, still looking down at him, "Captain Hitsugaya and I came down here to question you about the man that slaughtered your team."

A distraught look passed through his face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. Renji sat up in bed, wincing a tiny bit as he did so. Of course, no one would be completely healed after being cut up so badly. But Unohana had done a wonderful job at healing the lieutenant.

"Okay, but I can't tell you much, since I barely saw the bastard. It was a sneak attack," Renji explained. Hachi and Hitsugaya exchanged a quick glance, before turning their attention back to Renji.

"What can you remember, Abarai? Tell us _everything_," Hitsugaya put much emphasis on his last word. Renji closed his eyes and sat with his legs folded. The two captains waited, focusing intently on Renji.

"Me and my team had been assigned to Nishimura. It had only been our second day; that was yesterday. We were patrolling the outer limits of the tiny village. There was barely two hundred people living there! Well, we gathered at the northern most point of the island, and none of us had reported anything unusual. But within seconds, two of the six people on my team were already dead…The other four of us prepared ourselves as quickly as we could, but soon two more were dead. I heard this creepy laugh and caught a quick glimpse of the guy, but I wasn't fast enough…And then it was just me. Luckily, my comrades' deaths were quick and painless. Still, this guy was incredibly fast, maybe faster than Captain Kuchiki! That was his advantage. I defended myself from his attacks, but it was pretty much useless since I couldn't release Zabimaru in my situation. He would have killed me if I tried. He struck a blow to my head, and I ducked in time to dodge it. After that he left me defenseless, because he hit me repeatedly, kicking Zabimaru out of my reach. I guess he thought I was dead, but he saw my attempt to get up and stepped on my chest. He told me he was the one who had killed all the other shinigami, and he told me his name. The reason he was able to kill all those others though, is because of his incredible speed. He didn't have much power in his kicks or punches, but his agility is what managed to kill all those shinigami."

When his explanation was over, Hachi asked a question.

"Did he have a katana with him?" she inquired. Renji's eyes slowly opened and he gave Hachi a meaningful stare before nodding a "yes." It was Hitsugaya's turn to ask something.

"What was the killer's name?"

Renji answered hesitantly, "Michio Okatashi."

Hachi's mind went blank at his words.

* * *

**Ooh I wonder who Michio could be? You'll find out soon enough! Well, school is starting Monday, which means…well school stuff. I'll only be updating the story on weekends, but I'll work on it throughout the week. So sorry everyone! Blame school.**


	9. Confusion

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Very short, kind of sweet though. Last chapter before school starts. **

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"Michio Okatashi," Renji said.

Hachi's mind went blank; her figure turned to stone. (Not literally, ha!) Everything around her disappeared from her view and she heard thunder in her head. Her memories pushed against the wall she had set them behind. Buried once, horrible moments from her living life began dawning on her once again.

"Captain Inayuki?" said an alarmed voice from somewhere far away. Hachi resisted the urge to crawl in a corner and die, realizing there were still people in the room around her physically. She mentally struggled to compose herself, somehow managing to do so. Her frantic eyes met the dark, alarmed eyes of Renji for a split second, then she turned her head to sweep a glance around the room. She locked eyes with Hitsugaya, who had his eyebrows furrowed in confusion or frustration; Hachi couldn't tell which.

"What the hell was that?" Renji asked. Hachi looked up at Renji, who was now standing with his hands on her shoulders. The young girl cocked her head to the side, confused. She shrugged out of his grasp, taking a step back.

"You said his name was M ..Michio… Oka-Okatashi?" Hachi directed her question at Renji. Her voice sounded strained, so she cleared her throat after the inquiry. Renji's mouth was open just a tiny bit in shock, but he glared down at the captain when she didn't answer his question.

"Yeah, yeah, but what happened?!" Renji asked again. Hachi shook her head in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Hachi questioned. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"You were shaking, and your palms started bleeding from the way you dug your nails into your hands," Hitsugaya answered for Renji. Hachi looked at Hitsugaya like he was crazy, and looked down at her hands. Indeed, there was blood trickling along her fingers from the cuts in her palms. A few drops of blood lay on floor, bright red.

"Ow?" Hachi said it like it was a question, not really feeling any pain. She was sure that she had frozen in place, but apparently, that was not the case. Hitsugaya sighed in a flustered tone, and focused on Renji for the time being.

"Is that all you can tell us Abarai?" he asked quickly. Renji nodded once, then turned his attention back to the confused captain who was looking at her hands. Renji noticed that her eyes seemed blank, holding no emotion as they had just a few seconds before.

"Come on Inayuki, I have bandages in my office," Hitsugaya ordered. Hachi's blank eyes went back to being confused before she answered.

"Huh? Oh, right… yeah," the young girl mumbled as she slowly walked towards Hitsugaya, her hands dropping to her sides. The two captains proceeded to leave the room. Before exiting, the ninth division captain stopped and turned around to look at Renji.

"Thank you for the information, Renji-san," she said emotionless, like her eyes. Again. Renji waved awkwardly, but Hachi was already gone.

The two captains walked along side each other, both in very different postures. Hitsugaya was anxious, walking quickly but at least he looked like he was going somewhere. He kept stealing a glance towards Inayuki, who never looked up from the ground. She kept pace with him, but her eyes were glazed over in deep thought and no emotion was in her face. She looked… empty. Hitsugaya furrowed his eyebrows together, trying to think of something reasonable to say, but came up with nothing.

They reached the tenth division shortly, in silence, and entered Hitsugaya's office. Walking over to his desk, he pulled out a drawer, picking out the bandages. Hachi looked up at him with a blank gaze when he took her hand and began to bandage it. She looked surprised when he looked at her again, and relief overcame him when he saw she didn't look so empty anymore. He finished with her hands, and he had been quick. Hachi glanced down at her hands, then met eyes with Hitsugaya once again. She nodded and closed her eyes thoughtfully.

"Thank you," she stated with gratitude. Hitsugaya immediately detected the fake edge in her voice. She was still empty but was trying to cover it up. Hitsugaya shook his head in frustration and finally asked his question.

"What happened back there?"

A sudden wave of emotions hit Hachi hard. Pain, sadness, loss, agony, and anger. The wave left her angry for no real reason. Yet, there _was_a reason for it all. Hachi didn't think anyone needed to know about it though. Well, not right anyway.

"That's-!" Hachi snarled, but she cut herself off before she could say 'That's none of your business.'

_I've got to build trust_… she reminded herself quickly. Hachi looked at Hitsugaya sadly, trying to cover up her anger.

"That's not something I want to discuss. Right now," she added the last part, ensuring him that she would eventually tell him. Hitsugaya looked at Hachi for a long time, making sure she was alright. He sighed quietly and nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow then. At ten A.M. they open the gates," Hitsugaya reminded her. Hachi nodded and headed for the door, turning again to address him.

"Thank you, Captain Hitsugaya," Hachi said in an apologetic tone, which went perfectly with her melancholy face. She gave him a small, sad smile before turning to leave. Hitsugaya watched the door shut behind her, and shook his had to clear his thoughts.

_I swear… that girl…_he told himself. He wasn't sure how to end that thought.


	10. What Do I Think?

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Boring chapter but it's necessary I guess. I added a little part to kind of explain the relationship between Hachi and Toshiro. (For you Kouyan. )**

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Hachi walked with her head down, following the pattern on the floor of the Seireitei, trying not to think about her mission tomorrow. She quickly scourged her brains for something else to focus on. Her mind kept switching between different topics and Michio Okatashi. Hachi began to think about Hitsugaya. She didn't really want to, but it was the most "interesting" thing she could come up with.

The young girl wondered why she was trying so hard to be friends with him. She had assured herself before that it was just because she wasn't on good terms with him and she _wanted_ to be on good terms. With everyone. Subconsciously she knew that wasn't exactly true. She _did_ want to be on good terms with him, but she also wanted to see him smile. His ice cold glare made her unhappy because she felt that he was unhappy. It didn't even make sense to Hachi, but she decided that she really did like Hitsugaya. Not a "like" as in romance; she didn't want to be in a relationship, but a "like" as in a friend. The captain let out a loud sigh and left the confusing topic alone.

Instead, she chose to let her mind wander.

Definitely **not** her best idea.

Her train of thought went directly to Michio Okatashi. **Why** was he living? Not to mention a spirit with the powers of a _shinigami_! Wouldn't he have gone to hell after murdering two people in his life as a living human? Hachi began to feel sad that she had her life taken from her by that horrid man. Yes, Michio Okatashi had taken the life of her mother and Hachi herself. Hachi had been murdered at the age of nine.

But what really set Hachi off was the fact that he was now killing innocent shinigami! How could he dare to do something like that?! Hachi would not let him get away with it. Not after he had killed Hachi once.

The next thing the young captain knew, there was a large hole in the wall to her left. Her fist was outstretched but touched nothing. Maybe that was because her fist was where the wall had been just a few moments before. Hachi speculated what had just happened before realizing that she had done the damage.

"Damn it," she mumbled to herself. She smacked her head with her palm, scolding herself for being so reckless. She inspected the damage before slyly slipping away.

She made her way to the ninth division work area, which was inside a building that was on the ninth division grounds. A memory of yesterday came to her as she came into sight of the ninth division house. She was supposed to get a tour of the ninth division grounds, after all, she did beat Mohokira Kano! She wasn't in the mood, but thought it would help to get her mind off of _Michio_.

"Excuse me, Captain Inayuki!" Hachi heard. She turned around to see her lieutenant rushing towards her. He stopped in front of her to bow, and stayed below her in a respectful position. Hachi felt happy at that, but reminded herself that respect was not the same as trust.

"What do you need, Hisagi-san?" the young captain asked. Hisagi stayed in a bowed position as he explained why he had stopped her.

"Well, Captain, is it true that you're participating in the mission to search for the shinigami murderer?" he asked nervously. Hachi looked down at him. Wow, news traveled quickly in the Seireitei. Hachi let out a quiet sigh before she answered.

"Yes, Hisagi-san. I'm going to leave you in charge. I am sorry to leave you like that after I just got here," Hachi apologized. Hisagi looked up at her, then stood. Hachi had to look up at him, once again, because he towered over her. Hisagi shook his head.

"It's fine…but be…careful," Hisagi warned after much hesitation. Hachi gazed at him carefully, while he met her gaze cautiously. Hachi smiled, which made Hisagi's face turn a bright pink. The young captain laughed at her lieutenant's childish behavior.

"Thanks for the warning Hisagi-san. I will be careful, I promise...So will you take me to Mohokira-san? He owes me a tour," Hachi said with a smirk on her face. Hisagi's blush faded and he nodded.

"Right, he's over here," Hisagi said as he led the way. The two ninth division members walked off to search for Kano.

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(Continued)

Back at the tenth division taisha (division house), Hitsugaya sat busily trying to finish as much paperwork he could. He wasn't sure how long he would be gone, and he definitely didn't trust his lieutenant to do it. Matsumoto wasn't very reliable when it came to paperwork, so he tried getting all of today's paperwork done. He had already finished his stack of paperwork, but Matsumoto's share of paperwork had laid untouched, so he attempted to finish it _all_. He knew he wouldn't finish.

The door to his office was slid open, and his busty lieutenant walked through with an upset look on her face. Hitsugaya sighed in frustration and looked up at her. She slammed her hand down on the large pile of paperwork, which sent it flying in all different directions.

"Don't mess up the paperwork, idiot!" Hitsugaya growled. Matsumoto ignored his statement and looked him directly in the eyes seriously.

"Captain, you're not going to search for that shinigami killer are you?!" the strawberry-blonde asked. Hitsugaya looked at the scattered paper and answered without looking at her.

"Yes, and I'm leaving you in charge of the paperwork and division. I expect the paperwork to be finished, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya explained as he met his lieutenant's gaze.

"Captain! It'll be too dangerous! You'll be killed!" Matsumoto exclaimed in worry. She opened her mouth to continue, but Hitsugaya interrupted by saying,

"I'm not going alone. Inayuki will be coming, too."

Matsumoto's eyes instantly looked relieved when he informed of that, and she sighed in an eased manner. Her eyes went bright after a moment of thought, and she smiled down slyly at her captain.

"What do you think of the new captain? I think she's really pretty, don't you think so?" Matsumoto asked. Hitsugaya glared at her suspiciously, knowing what she was getting at. She had tried this with many girls before, complaining he needed a love life, then she would actually set up a date for him and he would be forced to go on the date. None of them ever worked, but it's not like he _wanted_ them to work out though. Captains were too busy for relationships, of course! He wasn't about to let his lieutenant make him look stupid in front of the new captain.

He knew that when he saw her the first thing he looked at was her eyes, which always caught his attention. But he didn't think much of her, since it seemed like she was still clueless. After she had heard the name Michio, he remembered how scared and angry she had looked when she was trembling. Then how empty she had been all the way back to his office and when she left. She was a strange person, much different from all the other shinigami in the Seireitei. She was so different, so he didn't feel like knowing much about the weird, new captain, except of her skills. He hadn't been one of the captain's selected to test her, although he wished he had been chosen.

"I hardly know her," Hitsugaya said carefully, making sure he wouldn't say anything to provoke Matsumoto to set him up with Inayuki. Matsumoto giggled, covering her mouth in a girlish manner and let out a,

"Mm-hm!"

She headed towards the office door, going to leave.

"Matsumoto…" Hitsugaya warned threateningly. She slipped out of his office, with Hitsugaya right behind her. He followed her around regretfully, making sure she came no where near Inayuki.


	11. Nishimura

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Hi everyone! If I confused you about the Matsumoto-sets-up-dates-for-Toshiro thing, I'm sorry! It was just something I added in that I thought would maybe make the story a little bit more interesting. I'm very sorry, so please enjoy this chapter. (It's kind of boring, sorry!)**

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"The twelfth division captain is mad, so I heard," Hisagi stated. His captain, Hachi Inayuki, walked alongside him. It was nine thirty A.M., and they slowly made their way to the gates that would take Captain Inayuki and Captain Hitsugaya to the material world. Their destination was the tiny island of Nishimura, and their objective was to find and kill Michio Okatashi.

Hachi recalled that the day before, she had learned of the name of the shinigami murderer: Michio Okatashi. He had been the one to kill Hachi in her previous, living life. Murdered in her own home at the age of nine… She had tried not to think of it, and had partially succeeded. Except for when she had lost her temper and put a hole in the nearest wall. She hadn't been aware of where she had been at the time. Apparently, she was in twelfth division grounds…

"Really, now why would Captain Kurotsuchi be mad?" Hachi asked in a clueless tone, knowing the answer perfectly well. She gazed up at her lieutenant curiously, making her eyes cloud with wonder. She had learned how to put on fake attitudes, which worked well to her advantage. It had particularly helped her out yesterday when she was taking a promised tour of her division grounds with some of her subordinates. Unfortunately, it had not worked with Captain Hitsugaya when she was in his office with him. Apparently, he had seen through the façade. She knew she'd have to tell him what she knew about Michio. Soon.

"I heard from Matsumoto that he found a hole in the wall of one his main buildings. Weird…" Hisagi commented. Hachi nodded in agreement, wanting to laugh but not having the heart to do it. She still felt like a black hole was eating at her emotions, and she wouldn't be surprised if she didn't find a hole in the middle of her chest. She wasn't sure what to do but try to keep others away from her own darkness. It wouldn't be easy with someone who would be by her side for who-knows-how-long, and especially if that someone could see right through her mask.

Hachi and her lieutenant arrived at the gates to the material world fifteen minutes earlier than they should have. Hachi glanced around, then met Hisagi's gaze. He took a deep breath, deciding on what to say.

"Be careful, Captain Inayuki ," he stated with a bow. Hachi nodded at the scarred up man, and gave a low,

"You too, Hisagi-san."

Hachi watched him get up and glance at her with much worry in his eyes. Hachi was glad that he felt some sympathy towards her after only knowing her for a few days. Even so, the feeling she felt was hollow somehow. Hisagi didn't notice this, so he turned and used flash step to leave. Hachi stared blankly at the spot where Hisagi had stood just a few seconds ago. She didn't move; it felt like she wasn't breathing at all. Her chest tightened, the black hole in her heart growing bigger as it consumed her feelings. She didn't know how long she had stood there, picturing Michio in her head, but it felt like an eternity as her memories roamed freely and painfully.

"Hey. Inayuki," a husky voice snapped her out of her trip down Memory Lane. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was, but she did anyway. Putting on a face of relaxation, she locked her gaze with Hitsugaya's.

He immediately saw through her façade. Sighing, he closed his eyes, furrowing his brows in frustration. Not sure what to say, he walked over to the gate's guard keeper.

"Open the doors, I don't care if it's early," Hitsugaya ordered. The guard nodded and chanted a few words while pointing his zanpaku-to at the gates. A bright, ice-blue light filtered through the doors as they slowly creaked open. Two black hell butterflies floated through and hovered above the two captains. Hachi gave up her act, going back to being emotionless as her body wished. Her eyes glared at the butterfly, but without her noticing it.

Hitsugaya glanced over at Inayuki, who was staring blankly at the butterfly. He called her name, and she responded by turning her head slightly. He signaled for her to come, and she did. Hitsugaya thought she looked like a doll being held up by thin, invisible strings. Shaking his head slightly, he walked through the Senkaimon, Inayuki right behind him.

Hachi proceeded to run as Hitsugaya followed quietly behind. The hell butterflies kept pace with them somehow, which allowed them entry into the Severed World. Hachi knew where she was going, and knew that if they kept it up at this pace, they would arrive shortly, five minutes or so. She felt Hitsugaya's stern, serious eyes burning into her back, so she glanced behind her, running at the same speed, to meet her eyes with his. She held his gaze, while he sped up to be by her side.

Hachi pondered on when she would tell him about Michio. She knew that when they reached the end of the path, even though it was only five minutes to them, it would be three days later in the Material World. It would also be night. Hachi's breath ceases momentarily as she thought of the possibilities. Her worry showed in her eyes, and Hitsugaya's curiosity peaked. (They're still staring at each other)

Would Michio be expecting more shinigami? What if Michio attacked them while they slept? They probably wouldn't be fast enough to react if his speed was indeed as incredible as Renji had explained. She didn't know what to do, and came to a complete stop. Hitsugaya stopped and glared at her, mad that she stopped. Her gaze felt to the floor as she wrung her hands nervously. The tenth division captain was surprised at her sudden change in attitude.

"What? Is everything alright?" Hitsugaya asked coldly. Hachi gasped at the sound of his voice, having forgot that he was with her. She looked up at Hitsugaya, dropping her eyes again before he could notice anything. She didn't want him to be hurt, let alone _killed_.

"N-Nothing…Actually…yeah, I'll tell you when we get to the Material World," Inayuki stuttered over her words, wanting to hide it but knowing she shouldn't. Hitsugaya shook his head in a flustered manner and began to run again. Hachi hesitated before following, much too quickly. She passed the snowy haired captain in no time, while surprise and annoyance was written all over his perfect face. (VERY perfect. :))

Within a minute of running rapidly, Hachi entered through the light that led to their destination. Hitsugaya followed suit. The two captains stood in the sky, their feet supported by spirit particles that they gathered beneath them. Hitsugaya glared at the young girl by his side. He watched her as her eyes scanned the small area of land below them. The night breeze played with her brown locks, her eyes illuminated by the moon with worry. The stars danced in the sky behind her, and Hitsugaya had to look away from the mysterious beauty before he could _think_ she was beautiful. Too late though, as he knew he very much approved of her appearance. He mentally slapped himself for letting himself lose focus.

"Look down there between the trees, there's a small, sheltered meadow we could probably sleep at," Hachi suggested hurriedly as she pointed to where she was talking about. The snowy haired captain searched for the spot that she talked about but to no avail.

"I don't see anything," he stated bluntly. Hachi glanced around her nervously before heading downwards towards some spot in the trees. Hitsugaya shook his head and followed after a moment. As they neared the trees, he still saw nothing, but followed Hachi, who looked like she knew where she was going. The next thing Hitsugaya knew, Hachi disappeared into a tree. Going after her, he dropped to the ground, landing besides Inayuki easily.

A large meadow stood before them, the grass billowing with the night breeze, shining in the spots where the moonlight shone through the trees and kissed the earth. A few flowers peeked up from the ground in random places. The large field was illuminated by the night sky above, a canopy of leaves and branches sheltering the two shinigami. Hitsugaya stared in confusion, having not seen such a place from the view atop. He turned his stare to Inayuki, whose eyes were, for once, filled with a little bit of joy. A small smile painted on her face made looking away all the more difficult for the snowy haired captain.

As soon as Hachi finally felt Hitsugaya's gaze on her, she let her happiness slip, putting on a mask of blankness, but this didn't cover up the anxiety building up in her. She felt safer now, though, being in a sheltered, beautiful place that she recognized.

"Is this alright?" Inayuki inquired as she turned to meet Hitsugaya's eyes with a blank look. He looked confused.

"How did you-…Yeah, this is fine…"he murmured as he scanned the meadow again, amazed by the beautiful place. He was going to ask her how she knew about this place, but thought he would find out later.

Of course, the prodigy was correct.

Hachi went over to one of the many trees, flanked by white bark, and leaned her back against the birch tree. Sliding down to the ground, she bent her knees towards her, wrapping her arms around her legs. She stuck her face between her knees as to not look at her companion. Hitsugaya chose a similar tree about five yards away from the young girl. He leaned his head against the tree, enjoying the smell of the night and the sight in front of him.

"Would you like me to explain now?" Hachi's voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned to stare at the ninth division captain, who had her chin on her knee, with her eyes facing away from him. She sounded hurt.

"Mm," Hitsugaya said, meaning to proceed. Inayuki took a deep breath, still not looking at the snowy haired captain.

"Okay. The reason I know of this place…is because I used to live in Nishimura before I died. I do, as the _rumors_," she spat out the word angrily, "say, remember my moments and life before I came to the Soul Society. I'm not sure why, but I guess it's not impossible. Anyways, I knew the whole island better than the back of my own hand. I knew where all the cool caves were located, all the exciting places laid, and where the best meadows and fields were at. I had lots of friends I brought with me when I went out to 'explore.' I was leading the best life on this tiny island."

"I was nine years old. One night I came home after coming here. It had started raining, so I decided to just go home before I got sick. The thing is, I felt anxious, for no apparent reason. Well, none that I knew of. Yet."

"When I got to my home, I opened the door and I _knew_ something was wrong. It was dark, and it was never dark in my house. I also smelled something like burnt metal, so I headed for my mother's room to see what was wrong. When I entered her room, it was too dark to see, but a flash of lightning lit up the room, and I…saw her body…covered in blood…dead…"

Hitsugaya noticed her curl tighter into her little ball.

"I went for the closet," she continued, "And then I heard my father…calling my name. He knew I was home. And then, he just came into my mother's room, and he…went straight to the…closet. I was too loud…so he found me…and killed me…just like my mom…"

"My father's name was Michio Okatashi."

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**Ooh, exciting. So anyways, I just watched the latest episode of Bleach, and Amagai…damn him. If it does turn into a "captain-goes-bad" thing, then I'll have to change the story a little. Plot will be different, but timing…well whatever, I'll see. Thanks for reading. **


	12. Quit Blaming Yourself

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Okay, I know I didn't post a chapter last week. Sorry, but I was preoccupied with a one-shot for my friend and homework. Sorry to leave you guys on a cliff hanger like that, but I couldn't help it. ****J**** So enjoy? It's really, really short…**

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"My father's name was Michio Okatashi."

Hachi finished her ending-of-life story with a deep, depressed sigh. She stood up suddenly, not daring to look at the snowy haired captain that had been listening to her. Hachi, knowing she shouldn't, had jumped to conclusions. She didn't think he'd want to work with the daughter of the shinigami murderer, or maybe he'd just want to hate her. She feared that her position as a captain was being threatened with her being related to the killings, if not by action but by blood. She'd now understood why she was so fast in her shunpo, and it was because she was linked to the man that Renji had described as unimaginably quick. She hated her power just shortly after she'd learned of this. All her strength, all her knowledge…she saw it as _evil_, because Michio Okatashi, her _father_, was an evil person.

Hachi pursued along the meadow's shadows, not looking back. She needed to be alone, and she didn't want Hitsugaya to see her, not with his cold, icy glare that had pierced her so many times already. She couldn't imagine what kind of expression he would have _now_, now that he knew what she was. She didn't even value herself enough at the moment to see herself as a person. Hachi was putting herself down with every step she took, away from Hitsugaya.

"Where are you going?" Hitsugaya asked dully.

Yes, of course he'd been shocked. Who wouldn't? But he knew that none of it was Inayuki's fault. He could tell she blamed herself for every life taken, every drop of blood spilled that was not her own. She felt that it was all on her behalf. But Hitsugaya knew he would have felt the same if he was in her position. He was mature enough to see that all, and he was smart enough to see that she had made assumptions. He'd gotten over his shock within a few seconds, so he wanted to stop her before she left. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to catch her if she did leave. After all, she knew every part of the island by heart, right?

Lucky for him, his words had stopped Inayuki. She wanted to turn to look at him, but was frightened to do so. Her fists balled up tightly as she quickly made up her mind. She was a captain after all, and she was supposed to spit fear in the face and laugh. The young girl turned warily to face Hitsugaya with much hesitance. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that he didn't look angry or betrayed, or anything along those lines. She would have smiled, but she thought it would seem strange in this situation. Hitsugaya repeated his question.

"Where are you going?"

Hachi wasn't sure what to say. Glancing up at the moon, she hoped the answer would be written in the sky. But it wasn't, of course. She met Hitsugaya's eyes and sighed. How could he be so passive? Hitsugaya shook his head as if to answer her question.

"Look, I really don't care if you're linked by blood to that evil man. It's important I guess, but you've done nothing wrong. Don't you dare blame yourself for _anything _that he's done, because he killed you too, right?" Hachi nodded, and he continued, "So then it's not your fault. And that's that."

The young captain stared at the snowy haired boy sitting against the tree trunk of the birch tree. Her expression was dumbfounded, but she felt absolutely euphoric inside. Again, she glanced up at the sky in wonder, watching the stars dance in the night's darkness. The moon, spherical and glimmering with livid light, relaxed the young girl down by quite a few levels.

Hitsugaya watched Hachi intently, observing her every move. He felt better now that he had said what he wanted to say. It helped even more to know that Hachi was now calm and content. He noticed every breath she took, every tiny move she made, and the way the stars played in her eyes. The snowy haired captain wanted to look away but found himself drawn into her mysterious aura.

"Huh?" Hachi said suddenly as she turned to meet Hitsugaya's gaze. He hadn't said anything, so he shook his head. Hachi's brows furrowed in frustration as she glared into the dark trees to her left.

"I'm thinking too much…" she mumbled under her breath. It wasn't meant for Hitsugaya to hear, but he caught her words. He smirked to himself. When Hachi looked back at him, he was still smirking, and she felt heat rise to her cheeks immediately. He was so… _cute…_Hachi couldn't help but say it to herself, and then looked away when she realized her cheeks would be tinted pink from blushing. Even though it was dark, Hitsugaya could see her face clearly with the light from the moonlight and saw her cheeks painted with pink.

Hachi walked over to the nearest birch tree and leaned against it, closing her eyes. She heard Hitsugaya get up from his place on the ground, then heard his voice from behind her in a few seconds.

"Is this the tree you're going to sleep against?" he asked in a low voice. Hachi nodded as she slid to the grass below, and pulled one knee to her chest, the other stretched out in front of her. Hitsugaya stayed at the same tree, also taking a sitting position with the tree for support. His head leaned against the soft, white bark of the tree.

They fell into an alert sleep, but it was peaceful because it had a sense of security with it. So with Hitsugaya on one side of the tree and Hachi on the other side, they let the dark crevices of sleep overtake them.


	13. Sneak Attack

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Hellooo. Yeah, I said I would end it, but I got lots of messages saying not to. I'm sorry for the writer's block. School is a %!+( Haha… so enjoy. And yes, once Christmas Break is over, I will surely have another writer's block. Oh! MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY KWANZA! HAPPY HANNAKAH! HAPPY BOXING DAY!**

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"There's nothing," Hachi reported to the tenth division captain.

"Same," he replied. The two superiors had just made a thorough round around Nishimura, taking in clues as if to see if Michio had been around. Hachi had taken half of the island; Hitsugaya took the over half. After a few hours of searching with no luck, they had given up. Michio apparently had not come in the area since Renji's team had been beaten down and killed, all except for Renji at least. Hitsugaya seemed exasperated, hoping to find some lead on where to start. Hachi, on the other hand, still seemed somewhat vacant, not wishing to expose herself after hiding behind the mask.

"So now…" Hitsugaya started, not sure how to finish. Hachi didn't look at him, but gazed out over the sea. It seemed like maybe she had not heard.

"We wait," came her answer. Hitsugaya stared, disappointed- not showing it, of course- that Hachi still refused to stop putting the burden on herself alone. An awkward silence passed, Hachi being hollow again and Hitsugaya unsure of what to do exactly. He opened his mouth to speak when Hachi rushed to unsheathe her sword, the blade coming out faster than the eye could manage to see. She faced Hitsugaya, but looked passed him, into the woods beyond. Hitsugaya felt no threat, but got out of the way while placing his hand on Hyourinmaru in the process.

"Don't let your guard down, not for a fraction of a second!" the defensive girl hissed to the snowy-haired prodigy. Her brown orbs absorbed the scene, darting from side to side, up and down, keeping alert to the finest detail.

A menacing laugh came from the woods; Hachi gripped her zanpaku-to tighter, clenching her teeth to keep from hyperventilating. She knew that mocking laugh all too well- feared it even.

"Well, Chi-chan. You've obviously grown up quite a bit, haven't you?" came the sneering voice. A dark shadow emerged from the trees and brush. The light from the sun slowly illuminated his features- onyx black hair darker than night, a well-built muscular figure, torn clothes, and many scars. But his eyes in particular caught the two shinigami's attention. They were bright and wide, and the brightest shade of red either of the captains had ever seen- a scarlet red that pierced them both while looking at none. Hachi could do nothing but stare at the madman before her. She now faced the same person who had killed her in her previous life- stolen her life away without a thought or regret.

"What's wrong Chi-chan? Aren't you happy to see me?" Michio teased. Blood ran hot in her veins, her pulse increasing dramatically, while she clenched the katana so firmly her white knuckles bulged. Hachi grimaced before snarling,

"How dare you call me that!"

"Ora ora! Defiant, aren't we?" Michio jeered. He fazed out and appeared behind Hachi, kicking her in the back with a forceful blow. The young girl stumbled forward before quickly turning and slashing the blade of her zanpaku-to behind her, only to slice through air. Hitsugaya was next to her in an instant, his back against hers. They stood in the defense position, back-to-back, alert. Hachi was infuriated; Michio _was_ incredibly fast!

"Hello! Who's this? A boyfriend? Chi-chan, you're too young!" came the mocking voice of Michio. Hachi and Hitsugaya looked up just in time to see his blade coming down on them, forcing them to split. Hachi was quicker this time, dodging the attack and forcing her blade to turn and cut the red-eyed man. The katana dug into his calf, slicing open his leg. Hachi had expected him to crouch down in pain, yet he fazed out of reach just as Hitsugaya swung Hyourinmaru down where he had been a moment earlier. A grunt of pain about four yards away confirmed that Hachi had made contact with the man's leg.

"Damn…" the two young shinigami muttered in unison. They again got into their defense positions (back-to-back) and awaited his next attack.

A flow of energy began encircling the two captains, looking more like a mist or a fog than anything.

"Shit…don't you know not to attack to your own father, Chi-chan!" Michio's voice was threatening, leering, and dripping with sarcasm. That simple cut had obviously enraged the madman greatly, causing the two captains to be more cautious. Especially now, for the flow of spiritual pressure that resembled fog now completely surrounded the two young shinigami. It pressed on all sides, hiding everything from view. It soon came to the point where Hachi could barely manage to get a view of her hands on the hilt.

"Inayuki…are you all right?" Hitsugaya whispered. His vision, too, had been immobilized by the white-silver haze of energy.

"I'm fine. Watch yourself," Hachi answered, hoping to keep him safer than her if Michio, strike that, _when_ Michio attacked. Hitsugaya nodded, keeping silent and feeling for Michio's spiritual pressure. Hachi did the same.

The sun did not penetrate the mist. In fact, it seemed as if the light from the sun had been blotted out by the haze, for the fog glowed, sending off its own light. The quiet breeze that had been passing through earlier didn't blow through either. Hachi and Hitsugaya stood- waiting, anticipating- for the slightest sound. And then they heard it. A foot coming down on blades of grass, pushing off, and creating a wind as it rushed forward. Hachi inhaled slowly, closing her eyes. She heard every rapid footstep in slow motion, imagining them coming forward in her head.

"Hya!!!!!" she cried out, snapping her eyes open and swinging her katana to her left. It came in contact with skin. Whose? She would find out in a second.

"**Kuso**…" murmured the deep voice. It was undoubtedly Michio's voice, definitely his skin she pierced. Hitsugaya turned, slashing Michio across the chest just as he used flash step to escape his reach. Blood trickled off Hyourinmaru and Hachi's blade. The mist began to disperse, allowing the two shinigami access to wind, sound, and sun. Yet, an angry howl and pissed off chuckle ensured the two that Michio was still in the vicinity.

"Heh. Hachi, I'll kill you. Again. And when you're reborn come back and I'll kill you another time! And you, boy…you've made the mistake of cutting me. I will kill you both, but let us wait for another day."

The haze completely disappeared, leaving behind only a smell of burnt metal. The odd scent of blood.

"Come back! You coward!" Hachi yelled to the spot where the voice had come from. She was about to scream her anger out more, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was instantly calm as she turned to stare into Hitsugaya's sea-green, teal eyes. He was obviously anger too, but concern was the dominating factor in his eyes.

"He's gone, but he'll back," he told her. Hachi tore her eyes from his own, and shrugged his hand off.

"Yeah, I know," she mumbled bitterly. Hitsugaya grimaced. Hachi couldn't help but feel defeat even though Michio had retreated. Tears stung her eyes, and she was ashamed to even be thinking about crying at a moment like this. Captains did not cry. No exceptions. Blinking back the water that threatened to flow from her eyes, she stood erect, glaring up at the sky.

"When he does come back, I'll kill him. Even if I die trying," she vowed. Hitsugaya couldn't think of anything to say or do, so he kept silent until Hachi turned and began walking back into the woods, heading for the meadow where they claimed camp.


	14. Spinning Top

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story in its own arc, seeing as Bleach often does that. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Yo! What's going on? I only got three reviews… but I guess I deserved that. (Thanks, by the way: Hikari6007 and ember-chan for the review) Next chapter! ****Boring**** and much longer than usual, but we'll see what happens, 'kay? Enjoy.**

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"Captain Inayuki! Captain Hitsugaya!" said the timid voice of a twelfth division member. He had come to report what had happened with Michio and to lend the two shinigami gigai. Hitsugaya could see that Inayuki was still incredibly angry about the fight the day before, so he decided to give the report to the twelfth division member. Quickly, he explained what had happened in minute detail, while the timid man took notes and summed it into a report.

"Thank you, Captain!" the twelfth division member called out, leaving the two gigai in Hitsugaya's care. The snowy-haired captain watched as the gate closed behind the nervous man, making sure another shinigami would not be harmed, lest Michio decide to come back anytime soon. Although, Hitsugaya doubted this. He had observed that despite Michio's incredible agility, he was also incredibly weak. What he lacked in strength, though, he made up in speed, and Hitsugaya would not let this piece of information be forgotten.

"Hey, can I have my gigai?" came the voice of Hachi, who had been unusually irritable since yesterday's little match with her father. Her voice reflected the anger and frustration from not being able to defeat the man who had ruthlessly murdered her and her beloved mother. She had also noticed this and tried to keep her calm and cool disposition in place in hopes of not making a certain short tempered captain angry himself.

Hitsugaya gave Inayuki her gigai, noticing the way she refused to make eye contact with him, and they both quickly slipped into the artificial bodies. Hachi looked over her clothes, which had come with the gigai, and shook her head in mock shame. A red and pink striped shirt with white jeans, pink and white shoes, and to top it all off: a red bow on her head.

"It couldn't have come in blue or black?" she muttered to herself. Hitsugaya stopped staring at the pretty girl, a smirk tugging at his lips from her comment. He looked over his own clothes, grimacing at the sight. He wore a pair of black skinny jeans, a gray sweater, and skater shoes. _I look so stupid…_ he thought to himself, wishing for something else to cover himself with. He looked up, catching Hachi's eyes. She blushed, looking away quickly.

"Remind me why we need gigai?" Hachi voiced too quickly, trying to cover up her little 'fault.' Hitsugaya looked her over one more time before answering.

"We need to get a room to stay in, and food," he replied.

"Right…"

The two shinigami set off for the village of Nishimura, a little, rural township with a population of two hundred sixty-three. The two were sure they had a good chance of finding a warm place to stay and a tasty meal to eat for a few days- at least, by Hachi's standards since she had been on the island. Of course, many years had passed since she had lived in Nishimura, and the people could have changed. Yet, she doubted it.

After a while, they emerged from the woods, the sun high in the sky and a light breeze stirring the leaves of the woods. Inside the forest, the temperature had been cooler and the environment shaded, but out here the sun beat down on the small island and no trees shadowed the outskirts of the village. Hachi glanced in Hitsugaya's direction, not being able to help but wanting to see him in his outfit again.

Kids played in a circle, smiling and laughing every few seconds as they anticipated some move for a game they were playing and, obviously, enjoying. Hachi walked towards the kids, Hitsugaya following warily behind.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a low whisper. Hachi said nothing as she drew closer to the circle, a few of the kids noticing her as she came up. She saw them whispering to each other, giggling and pointing as they stared at her.

"Hey! What game are guys playing?" she asked in an overly cheerful voice. A few of the guys, only about nine or ten years old, smiled and tried to answer all the at the same time. Hachi heard a few kids say "spinning tops" and looked down to see brightly colored tops in a drawn circle on the ground. Hachi noticed Hitsugaya's surprise and sudden interest at the words 'spinning top.'

"Cool! Do you mind if my friend and I watch for a while?" she asked, still using the same too-happy voice. Hachi was almost certain that Hitsugaya would protest and suggest something else, but for some reason he stayed quiet and intently watched the spinning tops, lying lifeless and un-spinning on the ground in the circle. The young girl looked back at him skeptically for a moment before putting on her act again and turning back the younger children.

"'Course you can!" replied many childish voices. Hachi smiled her grin, which matched perfectly with her joyful façade. The kids seemed eager to show off their tops, immediately reaching for them and giggling nervously. Hachi stood erect again and by Hitsugaya. Watching him from the corner of her eye, she noticed he didn't seem upset at all. Truthfully, he looks interested in the little game the kids were playing.

"Maybe when the kids' parents come to pick them up, someone will ask us if we need a place to stay," Hachi fully looked at the tenth division captain before adding, "or something like that."

He simply nodded.

Yet, before the first child could place his spinner on the ground, the two shinigami felt a presence, a very weak presence, approaching. The two looked up to see a kid with midnight blue hair walking towards the group.

"Uh-oh…" one of the kids voiced.

"Oh no! Not _Yuuto_!" another chimed in. Hitsugaya and Hachi looked at each curiously, wondering what the threat was. Judging by the amount of spiritual energy he possessed, the guy was as much trouble as a fly.

"Hey kiddies! Who're the newcomers?" the boy, Yuuto, called out. One of the little boys, the one closest to Hachi, looked up at her with hopeful and distressed eyes. Yuuto finally got to the cluster of children huddled in a tight circle, obviously trying to hide their toys and back away from the dark-haired boy. He smiled at Hachi, and his grass green eyes gleamed as he took her in. His gaze then swept over Hitsugaya, and his beaming stare soon became a hostile sneer.

"I'm Hachi; this is my friend Toshiro!" Hachi said in a less cheerful voice. Hitsugaya looked at her, silently scorning her for using his first name. Hachi noticed and gave the tiniest shrug, enough only for Hitsugaya to really notice. She knew she'd get it later for not using his last name, at the least.

"Hey there Hachi. I'm Yuuto Higa," the guy said coolly, a sly smirk crossing his lips as he turned his green eyes back to Inayuki, "What are you and your _friend_ doing in Nishimura? I've never seen you guys around…"

Hitsugaya already didn't like this Yuuto guy. The way he had glared at him was enough, but the way he was looking at Inayuki pissed Hitsugaya off. Not to mention the kids were cowering away from him.

"We're here for a few weeks as sight seers. I grew up on a small island, so I thought it might be nice to come here," Hachi quickly made up. It was the best excuse she could come up with on such short notice. Hitsugaya made no reaction of protest as he listened.

"Yes…it was nice of you come _here_," Yuuto beamed. Hitsugaya swore he would punch this guy if he didn't stop with his smooth talk.

"Hey kiddies. Any new toys for me to play with today?" he asked suddenly, looking down at the children with a snake like grin. It made Hitsugaya especially uncomfortable, reminding him of how Ichimaru had smiled. The kids looked around as if to say 'Toys? What are toys?' No one replied, trying to play it cool. Hachi had observed three bright, colorful spinning tops in the circle that the kids had been playing with. They were no longer on the ground. Hachi and Hitsugaya now understood why the kids showed obvious distaste in having Yuuto be around: town bully.

"Come on now. I saw you guys playing. Hand 'em up!" he demanded. His voice was no longer friendly and warm, but confident and challenging. One kid stood up, looking half-scared to death. He stuck his hand out, uncurling it to reveal a blue and red spinning top. Yuuto glare at the kid before reaching for the top with a sneer.

"Hold on," came Hitsugaya's deep voice. Yuuto stopped his hand and glared up at the snowy-haired boy. Hitsugaya quickly stepped between the little boy and Yuuto, swatting his hand away while doing so. A few gasps came from the watching children, surprised at Hitsugaya's interference. Yuuto stood as tall as he could, coming to around the same height as the shinigami boy.

"What? You wanna fight about it?" Yuuto challenged. He quickly glanced at Hachi to make sure she was watching. Hachi found Hitsugaya's interference interesting and was watching intently as she anticipated what the teal-eyed captain would do next. Hitsugaya glared daggers at Yuuto, his dominating, ice cold stare making the other boy look away.

"No, I don't want to fight," Hitsugaya lied. Honestly, he wanted to kick this guy's ass right now. He continued," Let's play- tops. You win, you get the tops; I win, you leave these kids alone. For good."

Yuuto pondered this, then glanced at Hachi again.

"Let's make it interesting. If I win, I get your girl. How about it?" Yuuto smiled from ear-to-ear, already fantasizing a victory. Hitsugaya looked back at Hachi, waiting for her reaction. She did nothing.

"Of course, if you want to back out now- that's okay too."

Hitsugaya glowered at Yuuto before turning back to Hachi. Hachi grimaced, nodding her head once and saying,

"You'd better be good at this."

Hitsugaya turned his eyes back to Yuuto, nodding in agreement.

"By the way- she's not 'my girl,'" Hitsugaya added. Yuuto smirked, nodded his head at Hachi, and winked. She wanted to crinkle her nose and gag, but it was all she could do not to. Hitsugaya clenched his fist, holding back a retort that would be inappropriate in front of the children. He gazed over them, and immediately three kids went up to the snowy-haired boy and showed them their spinning tops.

"You can use mine!" It was obvious they didn't want Yuuto using theirs. Hitsugaya picked a white and ice blue one from a little girl. _Figures_… Hachi told herself. Yuuto grabbed the red and blue from the timid boy without being offered any. All the kids gathered round the circle on the ground and watched with eyes glue to the tops. Hitsugaya and Yuuto both quickly and professionally spun the string around the top, and crouched low, preparing to launch.

"Five rounds. First to three wins," Yuuto said with confidence dripping in his voice. Hitsugaya nodded and the kids yelled,

"KOMA!"

The two unwound the string quickly and the tops spun in the circle rapidly, hitting each other closer to the edge. Hitsugaya's top spun dangerously close to the boundary, but it hit Yuuto's top, which flew out of the perimeter. Hitsugaya couldn't hold back his obvious joy. _Nothing's changed…_ he thought. (See bottom for explanation!) Yuuto looked fiercely down at the top he had and the two wound the strings again.

"KOMA!"

Hitsugaya knocked Yuuto's top out the drawn limit.

"That's not fair! Let me use another top!" Yuuto demanded. One of the other kids- the one that still had his top- walked up shyly to Yuuto and handed him the toy. Hitsugaya guffawed and they wrapped the string again. Yuuto glared at Hitsugaya before staring intently and focused down at the ground. Hitsugaya had no tension or worry what-so-ever.

"KOMA!" the kids yelled once more. The players unwound the string. The tops hit each other once, twice, and three times. By the fourth hit Yuuto had lost the game.

"Tch! Whatever!" Yuuto yelled. He threw the top at the little kid- who dropped it. He stood, obviously infuriated by the sudden mishap. Hitsugaya smirked, sneering at Yuuto with a mocking glare.

"Get out of here, and leave the kids alone," he said bluntly. Yuuto clenched his fist, ready to punch him, but backed away quickly when he saw the willing look in Hitsugaya's eyes. He scowled and began walking away from the group, looking back at Hachi with a somewhat pleading look in his eye.

"If you get tired of hanging around with these _kids_," he looked at Hitsugaya when he said the word 'kids.' This ticked off Hitsugaya visually, and Yuuto continued, "then come hang out with me sometime, Hachi."

Hachi laughed, not being able to help herself from Yuuto's comment. The green-eyed boy took it like a slap to the face, mumbling as he retreated in shame. Hitsugaya held back his urge to go up to Yuuto and punch him in the gut as hard as he could. And Hitsugaya could throw a good punch, if he didn't say so himself.

"Wow!"

"He's cool!"

"He beat Yuuto the Bully!"

The kids gathered round Hitsugaya, cheering for him and trying to get close enough to admire him up close. Hitsugaya took on the defensive, the unexpected wave of cheering coming as a shock to him. A little girl came up to Hachi, tugging on her sleeve with a big smile on her face. Hachi looked down at her and smiled.

"Your boyfriend is cool," the little girl whispered. Hachi blushed, going into denial mode.

"No, no, no! He's not my boyfriend! Just friends, that's all!" she exclaimed, giggling nervously. The little girl giggled and went back to join the cheering group.

"Hey, Toshiro," Hachi called. He looked up at her, narrowing his eyes as he had not been called by his respective title. Hachi continued, "Where'd you learn to play like that?"

Hitsugaya looked at the kids again, his gaze becoming more distant than she'd ever seen it.

"I used to play… a long time ago," he answered.

Hachi tilted her head, curious, but he said no more. She sighed, waiting for the cheering to stop and for the parents to come pick up their children.

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**Hitsugaya used to play spinning tops (also called Koma) in West Rukongai as a child. He was so skilled with spinning tops he became the local undefeated champion. (This is true!!) My source is Bleach Wiki! And omake manga chapters!**


	15. One Bed

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story in its own arc, seeing as Bleach often does that. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Hey readers! Thanks for the reviews! I know this is an extremely short chapter, and I would like to give you all my deepest apologies. I would really appreciate it if you read the note I have at the bottom of this chapter. Please do that, and thank you so much for reading my story! Hachi and Hitsugaya love you all! (Hitsugaya just doesn't show it.)**

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After about an hour of watching the kids play spinning tops and yelling 'KOMA' with them (well, Hachi yelled 'KOMA' with them, anyway) the sun finally began to set. Hachi began to wonder what time the kids would start going home, when she and Hitsugaya began to notice spiritual energies coming towards them. Weak, so probably just the parents, right?

"Hotaru!" came the voice of a young woman. Both shinigami looked to see a lady about in her early thirties walk towards the cluster of kids, waving and smiling at a little girl who was waving back. The woman was obviously the little girl's mother. The child, apparently Hotaru, ran up to her mother, giving her a big hug as her black hair covered her face. Hotaru smiled up at her mom, and exclaimed

"Look! I still have my top! Yuuto didn't steal it today 'cause Hachi and Toshiro were here!"

The woman looked confused but looked over to the shinigami, who were, of course, in gigai. Hachi pretended she hadn't heard the conversation and looked over the kids, watching them play and smiling when they laughed. Hitsugaya watched the game, too, more intent on it than Hachi was.

"Hachi and Toshiro?" the woman asked, seeming a bit alarmed. Her child explained what had happened with Yuuto, making him seem like the worse guy in the world, and making Toshiro sound like a knight in shining armor. The woman smiled at Hotaru, and she looked up Hachi, who was whispering to Hitsugaya. Hachi noted how intently the woman watched her, as if trying to identify her from somewhere.

"I think we got ourselves a room," Hachi commented. Hitsugaya nodded, still watching the children play their game. Hachi had never seen him so focused on something, but then again- Hachi hadn't known him very long and he knew more about her than she knew about him. It made her uneasy to have it that way.

"Excuse me? Are you two Hachi and Toshiro?" the lady asked as she walked up to them. Hachi nodded and Hitsugaya looked up from the game, for once not giving everyone the evil glare. Apparently he wanted a nice bed to stay in and a warm meal to eat, too. Hachi would have laughed, but it would seem weird, she knew.

"Are you here as travelers?" the woman asked. Hitsugaya nodded this time.

"Do you know if there's a hotel or something near-by? We don't have a place to stay…" Hachi asked in her sweetest voice. The woman smiled and shook her head, again looking long and hard at Hachi.

"There are no hotels here on Nishimura; we usually don't have travelers come through here. If you like, though, there's an extra room at my house that you two could borrow. Would you like to stay there?" the woman explained. Hachi looked at Hitsugaya, a smirk tugging at her lips as if to say 'It worked!'

"That would be wonderful! Thank you so much!" Hachi voiced. The woman smiled and made a sign for them to follow. Hachi smiled at Hitsugaya, flashing her teeth and showing him a "thumb's up" sign. He just rolled his eyes and followed the lady. As they walked, Hitsugaya noticed how Hachi kept looking around, different emotions passing through her vision. But he particularly noticed how she kept glancing to her left, searching for something.

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"Gochisosama," Hitsugaya and Hachi stated as they bowed slightly. They had just finished the meal that the kind woman, whom was named Akina, had prepared for them. Akina showed them how to get to the room they would be staying in for the next few nights, as where Hachi and Hitsugaya entered the room to find….

One bed.

"Uh…"

What now? Well, Hachi sure wasn't going to be the greedy one!

"I'll sleep on the floor!" she exclaimed suddenly. Hitsugaya stared at her for a moment and sighed,

"Okay, if that's what you want."

She had a sudden urge to fall forward. The guy was supposed to offer the girl the bed! Hachi had seen enough movies to know that much. And here _he_ was not even protesting! Hachi gave in and let out a deep breath, grabbing a pillow and a blanket from a shelf to set up her nice little bed on the oh-so-comfortable floor. Hitsugaya turned out the lights, getting in bed, and the two quickly fell asleep.

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The next day, the light from the sun was shining brightly in the room, waking up Hachi. She looked around, something not feeling right. And then she saw it.

Hitsugaya was sleeping on the floor, in her "bed," and she just happened to awaken on the mattress. The young girl stared at the fellow captain, admiring his features for a long time, before smiling and whispering,

"Thanks."

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**Hey…yeah, it was short, sorry…. But I'm letting everyone know that I'm going to take a break from "Frozen Memories." I'm just taking a breather, not quitting! I WILL be back! But the reason is: an author from Quizilla has allowed me to post her amazing story on my profile. Of course, I didn't write it or anything. I'm just posting it. But it's an incredible story, and I would really appreciate it if you all went and read it. Please do that, because the more reviews the story gets, the faster the chapters will come out, and then we can get back to Frozen Memories! Arigatou!!~**


	16. Promises

**Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.**

**A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.**

**Forgive the many errors. I went back to check my chapters... Boy, does my grammar suck, or what? Hahhaa, well, enjoy. Read the A/N at the bottom.**

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"Ungh...," the white haired captain muttered under his breath, opening his eyes slowly. An aura of calm surrounded him, filling him with peace. His back, on the other hand, was not in such the same way. It ached from being on the floor, and also from not moving a single muscle in his sleep. Although, it's not like he _ever_ moved in his sleep.

His body was facedown, head facing towards the wall. He had no will power to get up. How unusual for him... He let out a long sigh, sweet oxygen filling and expanding his lungs. He lifted his torso using his arms, turning his head to the bed, looking for Hachi.

But she wasn't there.

_Ehh.. Of course she wouldn't be here. How typical..._ he thought to himself sarcastically. He had hoped that she would be asleep, still in the bed and not out on her own. For if something were to happen while he wasn't there.... The results could easily be fatal.

"Damn," Hitsugaya sighed, again. Getting up, he opened the window, jumping out and beginning his search for the ninth division captain. _How cliché,_ he thought, annoyed.

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(Continued)

A cool breeze wisped across the brown-eyed girl's face, pulling and playing with her hair. It was let down- a change from the usual ponytail. Her red ribbon was wrapped around her wrist, also billowing in the wind as she stood uncomfortably in the provided gigai. She hated red. The color of blood. Blood only meant pain, and her body refused to embrace the sharp pang of pain; therefore, she not only mentally disliked the color, but her body rejected it as well.

The island was quiet, still early morning. The sun was up, but the gray sky indicated a still waking world. Hachi had done a quick inspection of the island. Nothing. Only the faintest trace of the previous battle. If that could even be considered a battle.

Hachi was still pissed, beyond consolation or talk. She needed a real, hardcore fight with someone she could take out her anger on. Someone that could be sacrificed. Someone like her _father_.

She clenched her fists, a snarl rising in her throat, her eyes closed in rage. The very thought of him made her blood boil and her veins nearly explode with the streaming fury. Here, where she was alone, she could seethe and show it. Although she didn't really _show_ her seething to anyone, she wouldn't have to hide it from anyone, either. There were too many things to hide for one person to bear.

She let her eyes open, glowering at the building in front of her. She had been here for nearly ten minutes, but she couldn't look at it for more than five seconds without memories flooding her thoughts, stinging her eyes with unwanted elements. Her mother was dear to her, but she couldn't be at the murder location and not nearly shed a tear. The hole in her heart was burning, eating at her emotions at a single unwanted or unhappy thought.

The young girl thought back on her decision to join the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, sneering. What a stupid choice. Had her thoughts been rational to believe what she had believed...? No, probably not.

A sudden presence seemed very close, too close for her to not have noticed it earlier unless she was really so consumed in her own thoughts. Or unless they had been hiding it. She spun around quickly, on her guard, hand in her pocket. Her fingers were already wrapped around the little green pill that would allow her passage to her real body and sword.

"Calm down, it's just me," came the gruff voice of the tenth division captain. He walked down the alley on the side of the house, coming to stand at Hachi's side. She could feel his warmth radiating off of him, transferring to her. The feeling was strange, especially since he stood about two feet away from her, but Hachi unnoticeably scuttled a few inches closer to the young boy. Her body craved warmth, although she did not acknowledge the yearning. She paid no mind to the matter as she listened to Hitsugaya talk.

"You know, that was really stupid of you," he began. Hachi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, unsure of what he had referred to. Her reaction to his sudden presence?

"If you're going out, we _have_ to go together, otherwise, Michio..." he hesitated slightly at the enemy's name, fearing some sort of strange reaction from the girl, "...Michio could attack either of us. That would be... regrettable."

Hachi had tensed at her father's name, but she took a deep breath as her mind went over his words a few times. She relaxed a bit, looking down at the ground mournfully as she twisted her body away from him.

"Yeah... I guess I didn't even think of that. I'm sorry," she lied. Of course she had thought of that. What's more, she had somewhat hoped that she could face her father again. Without help.

The boy prodigy easily saw through her lie, exhaling forcefully in exasperation. He knew what she had hoped for, and strongly opposed the idea. The mission had been assigned to **two** captains for a reason. Either Hachi couldn't grasp that concept, or she wanted in this alone. The latter was most likely.

"You're bad at lying," he stated bluntly. Hachi turned back to him, her eyes wide but calm. Of course he would have guessed that much. She released a breath she didn't realize she been holding, and smiled sincerely.

"I apolo-" she began, but was quickly interrupted.

"Don't say sorry. Make me a promise," Hitsugaya stated. He glanced at her with cool eyes, awaiting her acknowledgement. She blinked twice, cocking her head to the side. The gesture was one Hitsugaya had not seen, so he turned his head away in embarrassment.

"Promise me that you won't fight him without my being there." His voice was dead-serious, implying a demand more than that of a request.

Hachi flinched, not needing an explanation for why or who he spoke of. The promise was one she didn't want to approve, but she saw a loop hole in the agreement. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes and thinking it over. Hitsugaya looked at her again, awaiting an answer. He was expectant of what her choice would be.

"I promise, no... I swear- I won't fight him unless you are there," Hachi agreed wholeheartedly. The white haired captain detected no false tone in her promise, so he was put at ease. To some extent, anyway.

"Thank you," he murmured in relief. His tone made Hachi feel guilty for the plot she had come up with. He seemed much more at peace now, but when it came down to the fight... The ninth division captain felt like she was already betraying him.

"Um... well," Hachi began, trying to begin in some way that would lift the atmosphere. She then felt a presence coming their way. Hitsugaya noticed it a moment later, and they both turned towards the spiritual energy. They felt no harm, but Hitsugaya recognized it and tensed angrily.

Hachi groaned and her shoulders hunched.

"Not _him_..."

"..."

A boy that looked to be Hitsugaya's height came walking down around a corner, his midnight blue hair being flipped every which way by the wind. He turned his head towards the two shinigami, his green eyes widening in surprise.

"Yo!" he waved coolly, directed at Hachi. Hitsugaya clenched his fist, which the boy noticed. Had he already forgotten about the spinning tops incident?

"Yuuto..." Hachi said loud enough for the human boy to hear. He walked awkwardly in the direction of the two, but he eyed Hitsugaya warily. Apparently, the incident was still fresh in his mind.

"Hey Hachi, I've been wanting to talk to you..." he voiced in an embarrassed tone. He noted how Hitsugaya had not relaxed in the slightest, and quickly put in, "It's not anything perverted or anything like that! I swear."

Hachi glanced at her comrade, who was visibly irritated. She nodded at him, which Hitsugaya saw through his peripheral vision. He turned his head away, grinding his teeth, and letting air out through them. He took a step forward, glaring daggers at Yuuto the whole time he walked away. When he was out of hearing range, Hachi began.

"'Kay, start talking then."

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**Yosh! I got this chapter out... I can't believe I haven't updated since January. Well, summer is here and I have nothing but time on my hands. So I've got the next 15 chapters planned out. Just gotta write them out and stuff... Haha! Well, come back Thursday and I'll try to have another chapter. Go read Kidnapping To Confess Love! (I didn't write it, I'm just posting it. Awesome story!!) Bye~~**


	17. Don't Say That Word

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**(****PLEASE READ THIS****) Ne, ne... I started a new story. It's like a one shot... except it's like three or four chapters. Reviews for that would be much appreciated. Oh, oh: I decided! Whoever the 100th person to review this story is, they get a one-shot with anyone from Bleach. Rules for this decision are at the bottom.**

**(SORRY FOR THE SHORTNESS OF THE CHAPTER!!)**

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Yuuto stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to start. Hachi was a lot more... intimidating when she stood there, gazing at him with piercing, brown eyes. Her hands were in her pockets, and she held her head up with confidence, an aura of authority around her. She reminded him of his mom on a bad day, but a lot prettier, and WAY younger.

"Well?" the girl demanded in an impatient tone. The sun had been out earlier, but Hachi noticed how her hair was being tussled with in the wind. She felt clouds coming, and over the horizon she saw a few specks of what looked like clouds. But she ignored it for now, as she noted how Yuuto shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"I guess I'll get straight to the point then..." Yuuto said as he inhaled deeply. Had the two been in Seireitei, and had he been a shinigami, Hachi would be on the floor laughing at how slow he was to deliver his message. But neither of those concepts applied, so she kept her cool and stood erect, resonating with her certainty.

"What do you see in that guy that I don't have?" he inquired with a slight blush. Hachi was taken aback by the question. She knew who he spoke of when he said "that guy:" Hitsugaya Toshiro. But what had she done to imply that she _liked_ him in any way, shape, or form?

"I don't understand the question," she stated. Yuuto clenched his fist tightly, not looking Hachi directly in the eye. He was already embarrassed enough to ask this girl, whom he had only known for a few hours, about such a matter. He didn't want to explain, but his anger got the better of him.

"What's so great about him that you actually hang around him?! What is it?" Yuuto challenged loudly. Hachi narrowed her eyes a great deal, answering bluntly.

"He has a calm attitude. He doesn't burst out in fits, and he's incredibly mature. Plus, he doesn't bully little kids. There's a huge gap between you two. You don't even compare."

Yuuto flinched. He hadn't expected such harsh words from a girl who had seemed so calm and kind the day before. She was scary, he admitted to himself.

"Don't even compare, huh?" Yuuto mumbled.

"No. Not even _close_."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you loved him that much."

Hachi blinked once, trying to connect the dots. As her mind grasped the meaning of the words, her hand tightened into a forceful ball, her body rigid and her breath rough. She searched for words, her mind mixing through memories that she had long buried before. Her thoughts muddled as her posture became that of the one she had been trained to always be in. Her mind became blank for a few moments, her eyes glazing over and her guard on high alert. She noticed every movement and picked up every sound, and labeled each as a threat or not.

"Hey?" she heard through her hazy thoughts. The voice had been nothing more than a whisper, labeled as no threat, but Hachi reached to it. The fog in her head began to clear, and she gasped for air when she was free of her own body to control once again.

"**Shit!**" she exclaimed in a panicked tone. Her eyes darted from side to side, searching for something that wasn't there. Something that couldn't be there. As she searched her surroundings, her eyes landed on the boy. She glowered at Yuuto with a dangerous look, her eyes barely slits. Her mouth worded the sentence she had heard at least a million times. The phrase was embedded into her head, like an unwanted tattoo that could never be removed. Her body, for only a moment, acted on its own again as she said this phrase:

"Don't say the word 'LOVE' to me. 'LOVE' does not exist for people like me."

The only thing she had changed in the phrase, was the last "me." It had originally been "us," but she changed it to fit her situation. Her voice had been so filled with malice and hate, that she even shocked herself. Let alone the midnight blue-haired boy, who stood with a scared and shocked expression. His body had gone rigid with fear, and a chill as cold as ice had run down his spine. Hachi wondered through her rage if her reaction had resulted in such a feedback.

She closed her eyes, trying to block and bury away the hated memories that forced her to do this. She'd slipped up, after so many years of practice. And it was because of that _damned_, one word. She refused to say it in her mind, as she feared another slip up.

"Good bye, Yuuto."

"...Y-Y-Yeah....S-See ya around.." he managed to squeak.

The boy with grass green eyes watched the menacing girl walk away, into the woods of Nishimura. Once she was out of sight, he let out an enormous breath he had been scared to let out. In front of her anyway.

"What the hell is _her_ problem?!" he muttered to himself. He walked away in a subdued mood, just as a flash of lightening broke the sky in two.

__________________(Continued)____________________________________________

The storm Inayuki had expected had at last released itself onto the island. The young captain continued to walk passed trees and plants, unconsciously heading to a certain favorite location. A few raindrops made their way through the canopy of leaves, greeting the earth below with splashes of happiness. Yes, the earth and sky were happy to be meeting again, connecting and feeding each other with life. The wind had died down, and the elements were left to water and earth.

She noted how there were bright flashes of light, illuminating the sky with bright white. Through the tree's arms of leaves, Hachi could only see the light, not the individual strike of each lightening. But the sound of thunder soothed her emotions. She had managed to repress her memories and make her body forget the familiar gestures and positions, but she didn't dare risk it again.

Another flash of lightening lit up the sky, shortly followed by a collision of air clashing in the clouds. It died down again as Hachi pushed passed a few low hanging branches, and she paused for a moment. The area looked familiar, but at the same time it appeared to be the same as any part of the woods. The ninth division captain's mood lifted as she realized where she was, and she sped to the clearing ahead.

She broke through the plants just as her ears were welcomed with the hum of rushing water, and the sound of water meeting rock. Her beloved waterfall stood before her, getting splashed with an uncountable numbers of raindrops. The trees were cleared here, so there was no canopy of leaves to block the rain. Another burst of lightening appeared in the sky, making the scene picture perfect. Hachi closed her eyes and held out her arms to embrace the water that fell from the sky. She smiled and let out a loud, honestly blissful laugh.

Running over to the waterfall's pool, she dipped her hand in, pulling back the long sleeve of her shirt up to her shoulder. She reached under the surface as deep as she could, her fingertips barely brushing the muddy bank at the bottom. The water was bitterly cold, but she welcomed it like an old friend. It was a shallow pool, but beautiful nonetheless. Actually, you couldn't even really call it a waterfall. It was just a part of the stream that dipped about six feet into the stream below. The stream disappeared into the woods, eventually heading to the ocean that surrounded the island on every side.

Hachi sighed as she removed her shoes and dipped her feet below the surface. She lay back and closed her eyes. Raindrops met her face with gentle splashes that cooled down her hot skin. She sighed as she turned her head to the side and thought about the earlier incident with Yuuto.

Inayuki had tried and trained for years to leave the habits of the _Masked_, but after years of being _trained_ to never leave those routines... Let's just say it took quite an explicit amount of effort to get rid of the habits. She hadn't slipped up like she just had in almost ten yeas, but now... with the mere accusation of her being in "love," her body had acted on its own. She laid there on the grassy ground in shame, eyebrows furrowed angrily. Although she was angry, the sound of the waterfall seemed to carry away her regrets and worries. It cleansed her bad and made only good flow into her. At least, that's how it felt to her.

"Inayuki Hachi...." came a voice from the edge of the clearing. Hachi's eyes snapped open in alarm. She stood up quickly, whipping around to face the unknown.

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**Okay so here are the rules: You can only review a chapter ONCE. You ****can't**** post like ten reviews on the same chapter to get the 100th review. If you happen to be the 100th review, then I will message you and it'd be nice if you have in mind what character you would like to be in the one shot with. Thank you~ (Be patient, it might take a few chapters to get that far)**


	18. Pictures

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Wow! 61 reviews... =D Thank you so much to everyone for reviewing and taking your time to read my story. I'm sorry about the late update. (I got lazy) Enjoy~~**

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The captain stood against a tree, his back leaning upon it as he strained to listen. But it was apparent that Inayuki had lowered her voice enough for him not to eavesdrop. So as it stood, he waited patiently on the edge of the woods that bordered this side of the village. As he waited for the time to pass, he noticed, through the amount of spiritual pressure, that almost no one lived in this area. Most of the two hundred residents lived on the west side of the village, but this, being the east side, was almost completely vacant. Hitsugaya sensed one or two spiritual energies, but they were weak.

And then it began to rain, just as lightening lit up the sky for a quick second.

He felt Inayuki's presence begin to fade, as if she were going somewhere, and a different one come closer to where he stood. It was, of course, Yuuto. Hitsugaya pushed off of the tree to stand erect, already walking towards the previous location. Hadn't he _just_ told his comrade not to go somewhere without him being by her side in case of an attack?

"H...Hey..." Yuuto stammered nervously as he saw the white-haired captain coming his way. Hitsugaya noticed how the boy seemed anxious or scared. If he hadn't had such a posture, the captain would have ignored him completely, but instead stopped to glare at him. He asked,

"What's with that look?"

"Wh-what?" Yuuto shot back, his voice still a bit shaky.

"What did Inayuki say to you?"

"..."

"Tell me, Yuuto."

The boy with the dark hair looked Hitsugaya straight in the eye, but had to look away due to dominance factor that the other clearly possessed. What was with these two? They acted like army generals and treated him like a maggot! (Too bad he didn't know how close to the truth he actually was.)

"Well, I don't know... I told her something about 'love' and she freaked out! She got this look on her face and her voice was really scary... And she said, 'Love doesn't exist for me,'" Yuuto made a pathetically poor impression of Inayuki as he said this. Hitsugaya's eyebrows knitted down in frustration. What the hell was he rambling on about? He didn't think Inayuki would be the type to do something like that, but it was also likely that Yuuto could be exaggerating.

"Good luck trying to get **that** chick..." Yuuto mumbled angrily. Hitsugaya's attention focused on the boy opposite of him, who was looking around warily. Yuuto's focus seemed to be on the house that Hachi had been staring at earlier. A flicker of fear filled his eyes for a moment, which Hitsugaya saw.

"What's so special about... that house?" the captain asked cautiously. Yuuto looked back at him with wide eyes.

"You don't know?!"

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed; why would he ask if he knew? Idiot.

"Right... well, about eighty years ago, or something, this little girl and her mom were killed by their crazy dad. Then some people from the village went to his house and saw that had killed himself too, by cutting his left wrist off! It was all over the news, I guess. Lots of people moved away after that..." Yuuto looked up at the house again, "And it all happened in _that_ house."

The white-haired boy was in shock. He had believed Hachi, and even more so when they had encountered Michio and he called her "Chi-chan," but nonetheless, it left him stunned. And it explained why Inayuki had been there earlier.

"I'm leaving. This place creeps me out," Yuuto stated. Hitsugaya looked away from the house, remembering Inayuki's current disappearance.

"Where's... Hachi?" It felt strange using her first name to address the girl. Yuuto pointed to a spot in the woods where the trees opened up a little bit.

"She went that way."

"...Okay."

___________________(Continued)____________________

"It's just me- Akina. Please, be calm."

Hachi relaxed, taking her hand out of her pocket once again, where it had been wrapped around the little gikon pill.

"Akina-san... you surprised me," Hachi stated quietly. She was confused; why was this lady here? The woman took a few steps into the clearing, getting drenched quickly as the rain embraced her. She pulled out an umbrella from behind her, and Hachi saw that it was strapped to her coat. Akina beckoned Hachi towards her, and, sensing no threat, the girl obeyed. It felt strange being under the umbrella, as rain fell around her but did not hit her directly.

"Oh, my shoes..." she remembered when she saw them by the pool of the waterfall. The two walked over to the edge, and sat.

"Akina-san... what are you doing here?" Hachi asked with a suspicious look, narrowing her eyes a bit. The woman seemed hesitant, but took a breath and began to explain.

"Well, you see... yesterday, when I saw you, I remember thinking that I'd seen you somewhere before. But I couldn't remember until this morning, when I was looking through my grandmother's albums... You see, a girl was killed on this island about eighty-five years ago by her father. He also killed her mother and himself, after."

Hachi cringed noticeably, but Akina excused it for surprise. Of course, Hachi knew better. How had that slipped her mind? It had only been eighty-five years since her death, in which she had progressed quite a bit, but nonetheless... it was still a possibility that people from when her death had occurred would still be alive to this day. Unfortunately for her, even after eighty-five years had passed, she only looked four years older than she looked when she had died. That was expectant, being a soul and all, but if someone saw she knew saw her... There was always denial.

"Anyway... I found these two pictures," Akina proceeded to reach into her coat pocket. She pulled out two pieces of paper with printed pictures upon them. The women showed them to Hachi, in which her eyes expanded for a moment out of panic. The first one showed a three little girls and two young boys. One of the girls was in the middle, smiling with her arms around the boys. The little girl was _her_, Hachi Inayuki.

The other picture showed a profile picture of her, next to her mother, and a picture of the man who had stolen away her life. It was a newspaper clipping with the headline:

FATHER KILLS DAUGHTER AND WIFE, FOLLOWED BY SUICIDE

Hachi looked away from that picture, and concentrated on the other, happier, photo. She remembered those kids, and remembered the times she'd shared with them. Actually, she had seen those two boys and the girl on the far right the day of her death, before it had even happened.

"I thought the girl resembled you... and her name was Hachi, just like you."

The young captain didn't know how to respond. The evidence was right in front of her, and the resemblance was too much. Denial was the only thing thinkable, but would it even work?

"That's... kind of scary. But, as it says here, on the clipping, the girl's name was 'Hachi Okatashi.' I'm Hachi _Inayuki_, and despite the resemblance, I've never heard the story," the brown-eyed girl stated. Her tone sounded truthful enough, and Akina sighed. And then the woman began to laugh. Hachi furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"W...What?"

"Well, it's just that I was thinking maybe you were a ghost, or a reincarnation or something like that! How silly of me!"

Hachi laughed too, but it was not as whole hearted as Akina's laugh. As if an answer to the awkward silence that Hachi knew was coming, she felt a strong spiritual energy coming towards them. The young captain had been with him long enough to recognize the spiritual pressure, and identified it as Hitsugaya. She let out a sigh of relief, finding an excuse to pull away from this. It was too much for her to deal with, especially all in one day. (Even though it was only about noon by now) Old, buried habits from a regretful training, a picture of her past, so many lies, and the damn world seemed out to get her.

"Hey, Ina-.. Hachi!" Toshiro called out when he saw Akina sitting beside her.

"Ah, Toshiro!" Hachi put on a smile, slipping her shoes on and walking over to the captain. Akina followed behind, and Hachi stated,

"Let's get back, before the storm gets worse."

Hitsugaya nodded, and Akina did as well. Hachi pondered how to come up with more lies in case the woman asked her how she found out about the waterfall.

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**Poor Hachi. It must be so hard for her to have to have to _act_ every second of her life... (: You'll know what I mean later. Thank you for reading~**


	19. Twenty Questions

Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. May be offensive to some people, so I apologize. Rated T for possible coarse language and possible violence.

A/N: Main characters are Hitsugaya Toshiro and my OC. I placed the story after the Hueco Mundo Arc and after Amagai Shuusuke became the captain of the third division. I do not and never will own Bleach, all credit for characters and most plots belong solely to Tite Kubo. I own only Hachi Inayuki and Michio Okatashi. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

**Teehee... I think I'm going to just update my stories on Fridays from now on... I say that, but I probably don't mean it. -Sigh- Ah, well. Thank you for reading!!!~**

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"Ah...ah-!" Hachi sneezed into her sleeve, "Ugh...."

Hitsugaya sent a glare her way, a warning clear on his face. Hachi caught this, and put her arms in front of her to defend herself.

"Calm down! I'm not getting sick."

"...You _better_ not get sick."

"I won't, I won't," she finished with an exaggerated wave of her hand. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, sitting on the bed. After the whole "forest incident" with Akina and the photo, they had all made their way back to the house for hot chocolate and tea. Once the rain had calmed down a bit, Hitsugaya and Hachi had set off for a patrol. When nothing came of that, they wandered around the village, and a few of the little kids joined them. What with Hachi not having a sweater, and refusing Hitsugaya's when asked, she had caught the chills. Not a cold; just the chills. For now, anyway.

"Today was uneventful..." Toshiro commented, looking at a corner of the room. Hachi glanced up at him with a meaningful look, but he didn't notice it. Uneventful? That wasn't how _she_ saw it. With old habits being brought back up from the recesses of her mind, and a photo from her past life- it wasn't _un_eventful. Even so, Hachi agreed with him.

"Yeah..." was her whispered reply. The tenth division captain looked at his comrade on the floor. She had the provided blanket draped over her form, belly down on the floor. Her arms reached out in front of her, her fingers interlaced and face in the pillow. Hitsugaya himself was sitting with his legs in crisscross position, and he had a blanket around him as well.

Night had fallen, and the room was lit with an eerie glow provided by the moon, which now peeked through the dark, ominous clouds. The rain had stopped, leaving the fresh scent that both captains enjoyed. Not that Hachi could really smell, right now, anyways.

"G'night, Inayuki," he murmured. Hachi smiled at his tone; it was calm and soothing. Her heart felt less heavy for a moment, and it made her beam into her pillow. She lifted her head lazily and replied,

"'Night."

__________________(Continued)____________________

Two hours later, Inayuki heard Hitsugaya rise from the bed. It was silent for about two minutes, before his voice broke the utter silence of the room.

"You're still awake?"

"So are you..."

"..."

"It's okay. I can't really sleep, either," Hachi sighed contemplatively. Hitsugaya could make out the shadow of her relaxed form on the floor. She hadn't moved an inch from before. Hitsugaya grimaced a bit, and stared out the window for a long time.

"Let's switch. You take the bed," he suggested. He heard the ninth division captain guffaw into her pillow.

"If I hadn't been asleep the past six times, I wouldn't have let you move me."

It hadn't occurred to Hachi how he had moved her without her awakening. It was strange, especially with... her old habits. Hachi blushed, imaging Hitsugaya carrying her bridal-style onto the bed and covering her in the blanket. She puffed into the pillow, embarrassed to think about it.

"Agh...." she said, but her voice was muffled by the pillow. Hitsugaya stared down at her, and sighed deeply. He didn't feel tired at all, but he knew he needed some sleep. Especially... since he sensed an ominous feeling in the pit of his stomach. As if reading his thoughts, Inayuki commented in an worrying tone,

"Do you... have that feeling, too? That feeling that..." She did not finish her statement, so Hitsugaya completed it.

"The feeling that... something is going to happen, tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that one.

"Mm..."

"... Shit."

Hachi rose from her bed on the floor, and walked over to the window. The long window allowed a view to the outside from a sitting position on the floor. Hitsugaya watched, and as her shoulders relaxed, he felt more at ease. His eyes drooped a bit, but he still did not feel sleepy. Just peaceful, until the angst of the gut feeling returned and nagged at his mind.

"...I'm going back to bed," the white-haired boy announced. But his voice sounded hollow, and he knew he would not be able to sleep. Hachi turned her head to look over her shoulder at him, and caught his eyes.

"You know as well as I do that you won't be able to sleep for a while. You can't sleep anyways because you're coming over here to watch the clouds with me," she stated matter-of-factly. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow in question. Her voice was filled with a friendly gesture, but at the same time it was more of a command. He shook his head, but nonetheless he sat up again and climbed out of bed. He walked over to Hachi and sat by her on the opposite end of the window, which left about two feet of space between them.

For the longest time they just watched as the clouds passed by, hiding the moon, and within minutes revealing it once more. Hachi broke the soothing silence with an awkward question.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"W...What?"

She looked at him with a meaningful look.

"I'm just curious, but you don't have to answer."

"...Well, no I haven't."

"Ah..."

"... Have you?"

Hachi laughed, and Hitsugaya realized his mistake.

"I'd rather date a boy; I'm not much into girls."

"You know what I meant."

Hachi smiled before turning back to the window.

"No, I've never had a boyfriend."

Her eyes drooped, and Hitsugaya noticed the melancholy look she held in her brown eyes.

"..."

"Oh well!" she said with a cheery smile. Hitsugaya furrowed his eyebrows, confused. Hadn't she been sad just a moment before?

"Let's play Twenty Question!"

"...I'm not a fan of games..."

"But you played 'Koma,' (spinning tops) didn't you?"

"... That's different."

"It's easy, come on. I get ten questions, and you get ten! But you have to answer honestly."

"Geez... okay, whatever. You go first," Hitsugaya gave in with an exasperated sigh.

Hachi smirked and asked a simple question.

"Favorite food?"

"Sweet natto or watermelon... Favorite... color?"

"Cerulean!"

"...What?"

"It's an oceanic shade of blue."

"Okay..."

And so that's how the next hour continued.

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**That was a short chapter... sorry. But the next.... FIVE chapters are going to be exciting!!! Yay~ Thanks for reading!!**


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